Underwing
by Meatbun Attack
Summary: The prophecy never mentioned two angels. Then again, Prophesies tended to be vague like that, and in its defense, the second believed angel really wasn't as relevant to the Prophecy as the first one. That doesn't mean that he wasn't important, though, nor that he didn't bring change in the wake of his wings. (Byakuran entering Underground) Epilogue will come sometime to wrap it up.
1. Flowey

Hi there everyone! This fanfic here is the shortest fanfic I've made thus far and is already finished. That's right, it's **already finished** so I'll be able to upload the chapters without any kind of delay holding me back.

The Undertale fandom has exploded and I consider myself being part of that explosion. I haven't made anything remarkable, just been one of those who has spread the word around, shown what a wonderful game it is and watched as the wonderful fandom spread. But I decided to finally do something myself when I realised that I couldn't find a single fanfic with my favourite marshmallow eater even though he and Sans have so much in common...

So here's a fanfic with Byakuran from Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

I have also created a crossover AU blog for this story. I decided to call it 'Flametale'. If anyone is interested in finding out more about what happens after this Underground adventure, then you can go to my blog and check it out. There's a link to it on my profile. I don't have a lot of character designs on the blog, but I've written some stuff.

 **Warning: Huge spoiler alert for the game Undertale and some for manga of Katekyo Hitman Reborn.**

 **This story is supposed to have many 'plot holes' which the story itself does not explain. It's supposed to have a lot of actions, thoughts and previous actions hidden from you, the reader. I apologise if it seems rushed at times, because I wanted to hide as much information as possible. Please review or write a PM on what you would like to see more of and I might write a one shot about it. I have everything planned, every single detail from start to finish, so please don't be afraid to ask questions. I am certain I have the answer to them all.**

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 _Seven stones... Seven souls... Three pieces... Three parts... So alike, yet so different... One shall have knowledge of both... Two shall make Underground go empty... One with kindness, one with hate... The cycle is repeated... Over and over... Until the true end is reached..._

Darkness.

It's quiet except for a single pair of footsteps. In the middle of the room is a patch of grass, lit up by the light from above. That's their goal.

A huge slam echoes in the wide room, signifying the sound of a door closing. A small flower pops out from the ground, a flower with a face as it smiles kindly towards the person who stepped inside the room. The flower seems kind, but they know better that that. No feeling of friendship is between the flower and the person, no matter how cheerful they act around each other.

"Ah, so you're back!" The flower tells the person cheerfully, it's smile growing wider. "I got kinda lonely after you left. Here to visit your old pal Flowey?"

The person laughs softly, a cheerful laugh with no real emotion behind the sound. A male's laugh. The male walk closer, stepping into the sunlight with a happy smile on his face, eyes closed in a way of displaying false trust. The flower knows he's still watching, always watching, so it doesn't do anything. Even with his cheerful aura and his white spiky hair which shines like a gloria around his head in the sunlight, the flower isn't fooled. This man can be very dangerous if he wants to be.

"You are far from my friend. But you're not my enemy either." The man opens his eyes, glancing down at the flower with sharp, purple eyes, those eyes matching the purple upside down crown tattoo underneath his left eye. The man's gaze makes Flowey lean back slightly, wary of him. "I am here merely because I am curious… The singularity changed."

The flower looks away grumpily, an angry frown on its face as if it's looking at someone it really wants to kill. The man goes back to having a cheerful expression when he doesn't get an immediate response, crouching down to Floweys level with his smile easing up slightly.

"I see. So it's the child I just met. That's interesting. I wonder what they'll do with it."

Flowey seems to get angry over this, glaring up at the man with a twisted, evil look on its face. It's not the man's fault this happened, nor is it Flowey's. It's the human who just came here. The human who stole the power Flowey once wielded. Even if the human were to die, that power would never return to Flowey. And that makes it furious. At least it's better than that man receiving the power.

" _ **Don't patronise me! You don't even belong here! You weren't supposed to come here at all! You should be dead and give your soul to me!**_ " The flower starts to smile, eager to see the man shaking in fear. Eager to make this man suffer like he should be. " **You don't belong in this world. You shouldn't exist here. Every single person you meet here doesn't know it, but I know you're fake. Everything you tell them is fake. You're just as fake as that mask you're wearing all the time. When I get the chance, I'll rip that mask off you and see what's truly inside you. You'll never be able to fool me, _Human._** "

The man simply laughs at the flower's threat, putting his head in his hand as he's still crouched down in Flowey's level of height. No fear or worry is on his expression, simply a carefree smile like nothing is wrong with the flower threatening to kill him, to literally pull his face off. He's not worried in the slightest, because he knows that's just a far off dream the flower will never be able to accomplish. The flower simply isn't strong enough.

"I'm not hiding behind a mask, Flowey-chan. Because I really have nothing to worry about. You have no chance in being able to kill me. You simply don't have the right determination to do so. It's true I shouldn't be here, but I am. And there's no changing that. This world is very interesting and holds many secrets so I don't mind staying actually."

The white haired man stands up, not being bothered by the furious look on the flower's face. He know it's a sore subject, which is why he mentioned it. 'Determination' is the source of power in this world, and he found it out on his own. He had some time to explore and do research before truly settling down, and there's still so much more he doesn't know. The only one who would be able to know about this singularity is Flowey, but they rather not have to talk with each other more than necessary. Sure, they exchange information, but nothing mind breaking or extraordinary. Simple hints which the other has to muse on alone.

The man adjust the hood of his thick vest slightly, opening his eyes to give Flowey a look that clearly says 'go ahead and try' before he turns his back on Flowey to walk back towards the large double doors leading to the outside. He puts his hands in his pockets, posture relaxed that really screams 'unprepared' to anyone that would want to attack him. But Flowey knows, that man is hard to kill. Even if it's very tempting, he can't attack. That man is always prepared no matter what position he's in. If the flower had human souls, he might be able to kill the male human.

As the doors close behind the man, not a single word of farewell shared between them, Flowey starts to shake in pure rage. That man is very infuriating, always changing tactics, always wearing that smile and can turn dangerous in only the matter of seconds. But never truly offensive or threatening directly. No one should underestimate him, but everyone does so anyway. Only Flowey know what a true danger he is. Not to the monsters who are kind to the human, but to The Plan. The monsters believe he's The One from the prophecy and would never hurt him to get to his soul. He's really hard to kill and Flowey can't get to the other souls either. If that Smiley trash bag was impossible to get past, Flowey is certain it would ever get past that man if Flowey tried again. It believes they are on the same power level. And without SAVE power, Flowey's life can't be kept safe either. Perhaps he can use that new human to his advantage, use that small human to get rid of the man. Manipulate the human who has the power to SAVE that the man is the enemy and not itself.

A large grin grows on the flower's face at the thought of the smaller human killing that man and Flowey standing over his body, laughing over his death. Such a wonderful experience that would be. Even if the human has left the ruins, it will not be the last time that child will see Flowey. Flowey will watch the humans every step and manipulate the human and the monster around the child so that the child will act the way it wants them to. Not to mention that stupid skeleton who listens to Flowey's praises and foolishly think of Flowey as a friend.

"Just you wait… I'll laugh on your grave over and over… **Byakuran!** "

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Hope you enjoyed the first little chapter. Please don't hesitate to ask me questions. You could ask as PM here or at my Tumblr blog, your choice.

See ya soon~!


	2. Frisk

Hi, I'm back! A little later than I first planned, but real life swept me away this week. I'm actually in the process of drawing a few scenes from this story, it's a lot of fun and great practice. I'll post the pictures on my DeviantArt account as I make them. And I also want to thank you who favourite and follow my story, I'm really glad you like it thus far. Oh, and special thanks to AnonymousIsSleepy for being the first one to review.

 **Don't by shy on telling what you want to see more of. I'm open to all suggestions.**

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Soft crunches comes from the snow as Byakuran walks through Snowdin, a comfortable smile on his face as he looks around. Without hesitating, as if he has done it many times already, he ducks his head slightly to let a stray snowball sail over him and then continues walking like nothing happened. The people around Byakuran are cheerful and lively in this wonderful weather, no snow storm and as bright as it can get here in Underground without a sun present. Byakuran says hello to the playing children before he walks up to the door of a large wooden house, knocking on the door gently.

After a few seconds, the door is opened by a tall skeleton wearing his 'Battle body' and a red scarf around his neck. The skeleton immediately brightens up when he sees who it is and the human holds up his hand in greeting, thus also stopping the skeleton from making a loud exclamation like he usually does.

"Yah, Papyrus-kun. I heard you have someone interesting staying in your home. Would you mind if I meet them?"

Papyrus quickly shakes his head, stepping aside and seems to brighten up even further at the thought of inviting Byakuran into his house. Byakuran understands why he's reacting like that. The reason why he had his hood up is so that monsters won't recognise him immediately. He wants to know how the skeleton brothers reacted to what he did before. Of course, getting praises and stopping to write autographs has never bothered him in Snowdin, but he would rather not be stopped on his way here today.

"OF COURSE YOU CAN MEET THE HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE BECOME THE HUMANS VERY FIRST FRIEND IN THIS WORLD. I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THE HUMAN IS VERY FRIENDLY."

Byakuran laughs softly as he steps inside, pulling down his hood with the smile never leaving his face. Byakuran finds it amusing how brave yet naive and friendly Papyrus can be. After all, he tried to lie to Undyne about what his friend looked like, from what Byakuran has found out. Key word being tried since that plan didn't succeed because the kid wore a tutu just like Papyrus guessed they would wear. He had his heart in the right place though. Byakuran has met Undyne and she is not a pushover, far from it. And even less of a pushover now compared to before Byakuran came.

"That sounds nice. You are one of the best friends anyone can have so I'm sure the kid is very happy over it."

Papyrus strikes a proud pose with a slight blush on his cheeks, pointing at himself with a clothed thumb as a wind comes from nowhere to flap his cape. He controls it with magic. Byakuran hangs up his hooded vest as well as his scarf in the meantime, he doesn't need them when it's warm inside the house.

"INDEED! IT IS A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO BE FRIENDS WITH SUCH A COOL PERSON AS MYSELF."

When Byakuran turns back around towards Papyrus, the human has to back away slightly to not be hit in the face when Papyrus pointing dramatically at him out of nowhere. This makes Byakuran chuckle slightly, Papyrus always end up amusing him in different ways.

"THAT REMINDS ME! YOU, TOO ARE A VERY GREAT FRIEND BYAKURAN!"

"How so?" The human asks back, chuckling again as Papyrus pulls away his hand to put it against his chest.

"BECAUSE YOU KNEW THE HUMAN HAD BECOME MY FRIEND, YOU TOLD THE WORLD THAT THE HUMAN IS THE PERSON FROM THE PROPHECY, EVEN WHEN IT CLEARLY IS YOU! THAT IS A SIGN OF SOMEONE WHO CARES FOR EVERYONE, NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE!"

Byakuran holds up his hand in dismissal, still smiling as he closes his eyes kindly. That is the reason why he came after all. He hasn't met the child this time but even so said that they aren't dangerous to any monster. As well as a few other things. He's curious to how the skeletons will react. Especially Sans.

"You give me too much credit Papyrus-kun. I'm really not a prophecy person. They are really similar to angels so it might as well be them."

"AHA!" Papyrus hits a fist into his palm, face brightening up as if he just realised something genius. "OR PERHAPS IT IS THE ANGELS WHO ARE SIMILAR TO THE HUMANS. BOTH YOU AND THE HUMAN HAVE SIMILAR BODY WITH SQUISHY, PALE FLESH. THE ONLY THING THE HUMAN IS MISSING IS WHITE HAIR, A PAIR OF WINGS LIKE YOU HAVE AND YOU WOULD BE THE SAME!"

Byakuran glances back at the wings sticking out from his back, his serious purple eyes opening slightly as he observes them. They aren't as large as they'll be 10 years from now, but they are very useful. The wings have more uses than only making him fit into this world. He simply came up with a lie that his monster blood was too hard to hide and that he came here in hope of finding 'his own people'. Then they started to praise him after some prophecy they have. He's not complaining, it did make it easier to stay in Underground, and performing in those TV shows are actually kind of fun.

Byakuran is brought out from his musings when he senses someone move towards him, so he easily close his eyes and wears his cheerful demeanour once again as he looks in the direction the movement is coming from. It's Sans with the child trailing behind him, both of them who previously sat on the couch. The little child still has its pink, blue striped shirt but has a jacket similar to the one Sans is wearing, only a darker blue colour, over it. Sans is tense, staring at Byakuran as if it will reveal all his secrets. Sans knows that Byakuran is hiding something, something important. He has this nagging feeling in the back of his skull that something is wrong with that 'angel', that he's a lot more secretive than what he seems. Byakuran didn't know that the human was with them, he's never met the human before. He was at his show when the human came to Snowdin and became friends with Papyrus. Byakuran couldn't have possibly answered those questions about them so perfectly without having met the child. But if he did meet the human, Sans would have known. And saying that the child is the one from the prophecy, is it really to make monsters more comfortable with them or is it to give Byakuran more time to do something else? Byakuran feels more dangerous than he seems in Sans opinion, but he's still nice company even with his suspicious but open nature. Sometimes it's just hard to understand what's going through that guy's head.

"hey, Byakuran. nice show you did back there." Sans comments, not letting any of his suspicion show in his voice. But Byakuran notices how the skeleton is tense and comes to the conclusion that Sans is becoming slightly wary of him. After all, the human child doesn't wear one of Sans jackets out of coincidence. He must know about It then. But Byakuran likewise doesn't let any of his true amusement or curiosity show to the skeleton but only nods cheerfully, doing a small, playful salute.

"How nice, on a skele from 1 to ton?"

Sans chuckles and shakes his head at Byakuran's attempt to make a pun, it wasn't half bad but not that good either. Byakuran has taken up those jokes pretty nicely since they started hanging out.

"well, I was going to say you got an updog for that performance, but after your bad pun I would say it wasn't…" He shows off the remote Sans is holding in his hand with his grin growing. "remotely funny."

Byakuran chuckles slightly at the joke, shrugging in apology. Byakuran isn't and has never been really good with coming up with puns like Sans do, but he's at least trying. And those jokes are actually very funny. If he never tries, he'll never be able to annoy Bluebell or Kikyo with some of those jokes. They hate those kind of jokes and it would be fun to see their reaction if such a joke came from Byakuran.

Papyrus, having heard the beginning of a bad pun once again, waves to Byakuran to not ask what he wants to ask. Byakuran sees Papyrus's reaction and gets even more amused by being in the brother's presence. They are opposites but still fit together so well, those two. And he has heard this joke before so he plays along with Sans for this one. Papyrus reaction to it is always amusing to Byakuran.

"I try. But what's updog?"

Sans grin grows, knowing that Byakuran is with on his joke and prepares to say the punch line when Papyrus quickly covers his brother's mouth. The taller skeleton has a strained smile on his face and quickly changes the conversation topic. Papyrus is quite displeased that Byakuran started to pick up on his brother's jokes even when they aren't that funny. At least the angel isn't joking like that around any other monster than Sans, but he has actually gotten better, or worse in Papyrus's opinion, at making jokes only this last week they haven't seen him.

"THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT! LET US START THE INTRODUCTION! HUMAN," Papyrus turns towards the human child, still holding one of his gloved hands over his brothers mouth. Sans is very amused that Papyrus would go so far to make him stop that joke and glances over towards Byakuran. The 'angel' has gotten better. But how could he have gotten better in a week where he hasn't met Sans? Researching jokes isn't really effective here in underground, you need experience.

"THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF MY COOL FRIENDS, BYAKURAN! OF COURSE, YOU ALREADY KNOW OF HIM SINCE HE WAS ON TV, BUT I SHALL NEVER FAIL IN INTRODUCING ONE FRIEND OF MINE TO ANOTHER. HE'S THE ONLY ANGEL MONSTER WE HAVE IN UNDERGROUND AND IS ALSO THE PERSON FROM OUR ANCIENT PROPHECY! BECAUSE HE CAME FROM THE SURFACE, LIKE YOU! I THINK I HAVE HIS TALE RECORDED IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE."

The child nods, looking up at Byakuran with a bright smile. The child doesn't really pay attention to what Papyrus is saying, as if they already know all of that. When Papyrus is finished with the 'introduction', Byakuran opens his eyes and smile warmly at the child, as if he's one of their best friends and are now seeing each other again after a long time.

"Hi there. It's great to have a human down here, especially someone kind. Right?"

The child nods, smile growing brighter as they rush forward to give Byakuran a hug. The man chuckles softly, crouching down so he can hug the child back properly. Papyrus is confused by this sudden show of affection but then smiles as he comes up with a thought. Even though skeletons are similar to humans in shape, this angel is a lot more similar to how they can ever be. The human child is simply overjoyed to finally meet someone similar to them, even if they're a monster.

But Sans doesn't get quite as happy nor shrug it off so easily as Papyrus does. He gets the sense of Deja Vu, that Sans has seen the two humans hug like this before. Now he really knows that something is up with Byakuran, no one can act like that to a total stranger. It really does seem like they've known each other longer than just a few minutes. At the first chance he gets, he'll need to have a small talk with Byakuran on what is up.

Once the hug is over, Byakuran holds the child's shoulders gently as he looks at them. The child hasn't changed one bit since they last met, same kindness and same determination in their eyes.

"Well, I suppose I can't deny a hug from someone as similar as I. What's your name little chosen one?"

Not once has the human child answered that question, but has only spoken when they've absolutely needed to. They never found it necessary for others to know their name. But Byakuran… Byakuran is different than the others. He's like the child themselves. So the child opens their mouth timidly to answer that question, looking away from Byakuran with their cheeks getting slightly red in embarrassment.

"F-Frisk…."

The bright smile on Byakuran's face makes saying their name absolutely worth anything in the world according to Frisk. He really does look an angel with such soft smile and bright purple eyes.

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I'm keeping Frisk gender neutral in this story, or at least do my best to keep it that way. If you see any 'he' or 'she', then I'm sorry about that. I'm also sorry for my bad puns, I'm not English speaking but I try my best.

 **Hey, if you feel like it, can you send me some good puns I can use? I'm not good at them myself...**

But thank you for reading! See ya soon~. ^^


	3. Sans

Hello everyone and happy holidays!

My Christmas has been kind of busy, I hope you've had it well with your celebrations. I wanted to post this chapter on Christmas Eve, but I never got the time to do so.

But here's the next chapter! A few more things on my theory of the world is explained and a few hints to how Byakuran has changed Underground during his stay. It's not a complete explanation, because it's supposed to stay hidden. I had a lot of fun writing this story.

 **Warning for bad puns... Still not that good at them...**

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"hey, Byakuran."

The white haired man turns away from talking to his fans when he hears that familiar voice, his smile growing wider when he sees Sans approaching. At the moment, Byakuran has some free time. Mettaton wants to shoot the show with Frisk alone, just like he always does, so this time Byakuran spends his time in the lobby talking to any monster who wants to talk to him. It's a surprise that Sans came, he's usually at his job around this time. But Sans is very lazy in nature so he might be using Byakuran as a reason to skip.

"Sans-kun. How nice of you to visit, I haven't seen you in a while. Is your work in Hot land too hot for you?"

The monsters around him chuckle at his joke attempt, including Sans. The only time Byakuran tries to make jokes is around Sans, because he doesn't see any point in trying for anyone else. Sans is a lot more interesting than other monsters as well as Papyrus, Undyne and Frisk. Only those monsters and human deserves any effort from Byakuran in his opinion, since they amuse him in return with their big roles in Underground as well as the situations they create around themselves. But it's still only towards Sans that Byakuran tries to crack a joke or two.

"yeah, a little. I forgot my sunglasses at home today."

Now this is something Byakuran hasn't heard before as he opens his eyes, looking curiously at Sans. The skeleton has stopped a few feet away, not wanting to get too close to Byakuran with his fans around him. Sans just get the feeling that doing so would not bode too well on his part…

"How would sunglasses help? The flames too eye catching?" Byakuran chuckles softly when he realise that what he just said could be taken as another pun, feeling quite proud of himself. He's getting better at it. Bluebell and Kikyo are going to find him so infuriating once he comes back to the surface.

"nah, sunglasses makes you cooler."

Byakuran has to laugh at that one. The way he says those jokes in a laid back way just cracks him up every time. Byakuran never knew he liked bad jokes until he met Sans, there haven't been much humor in his life other than playing around with other people's reactions. It's a welcome experience. Sans is a very good comedian, Byakuran really needs to remember that one once he gets home. But he also gets the feeling that Sans has to talk to him about something important, something concerning the RESETS.

"I'll never be able to keep up with you on jokes, you're just too good. Or bad according to Papyrus." Byakuran says while backing away from his fans slightly, turning completely towards Sans with a bright smile. A few monsters walk away, knowing that the two friends must want to talk if Byakuran does that. But some are still persistent to talk to the man from the prophesy and stays, fidgeting slightly when Byakuran's attention isn't on them anymore. They had more questions to ask after all, not only about himself as a savior of monsters but also to him as a somewhat TV star.

"well, maybe. Pap has gotten tired of my eggcellent puns. or it's just easy to crack you up." Sans pauses for a short moment to let Byakuran's chuckles die out, a large grin on the skeleton's face. But he did come here for a reason, a very important reason. Since Byakuran is on a break, it shouldn't be any problem either. With a serious light in his eye sockets, Sans stare at Byakuran, keeping his hands in his pockets.

"but before that, I have a few questions to ask. is that ok?"

Byakuran opens his eyes fully, noticing how serious Sans is and gets serious in return. It really is about the RESETS. After staring intently back at Sans for only a moment, Byakuran puts his cheerful smile back on his face with a small nod. He wouldn't want the other monsters to know something is off about him after all.

"Of course! Anything for a friend." Byakuran turns towards the monsters who are still present, his smile turning apologetic as he holds up his hand in farewell. "I'm sorry about this, but don't hesitate to approach me some other time."

With that being said, Byakuran walks towards Sans, his eyes opening once again to stare intensely at the skeleton. Sans can't help but feel uncomfortable when he sees those eyes, so serious and all-knowing. As if Byakuran knows every single piece there is to Sans. Suppressing a shudder, the skeleton turns around and walk out from the MTT building, still tense since those eyes brings up a sense of Deja Vu through his whole being. It's like he's literally looking through the skeleton's soul. Sans uses one of his shortcuts to get them to the place where he knows they won't get bothered, one of his guard posts.

Sans reaction to the human's stare is quite amusing to Byakuran. This has happened before, so he knows exactly what Sans is going to ask about. But he lets the trip to where Sans want to go stay quiet, enjoying how the laid back skeleton can get so unnerved by simply receiving a hard stare. He should have done this earlier last time this happened if it would get this kind of reaction.

Once they've arrived, Sans lets out a small breath in relief when Byakuran's intense stare doesn't feel as intense anymore and sits down on one of the two chairs inside his booth, hands still in his pockets. He looks up expectantly at Byakuran, gesturing to the chair in front of him with his ever present grin.

"might as well sit down. this'll take a while."

Byakuran nods, smiling back with his eyes closed and elegantly sits down on the chair, leaning back on the backrest and pressing his wings against it. It doesn't hurt at all to place his wings in this position. He's gotten so used to the wings that he barely feels them anymore. Crossing his arms over his chest, a carefree aura around him, Byakuran decides to start the conversation instead of Sans.

"You want to talk about the RESETS, don't you?"

Sans tenses up, white dots in his eye sockets shrinking slightly in surprise. He quickly recovers though and shrugs, closing his eyes lazily. It is quite remarkable how quick Sans can cover up his emotions and go back to being laid back, truly remarkable. He would be a great asset later on.

"heh, you saw right through me, buddy. tibia honest, I thought I had to ask you questions about it. but that wouldn't be humerus for you, would it?"

With his smile transforming into a grin, Byakuran has to fight hard so he won't laugh. That Sans would crack skeleton jokes in this serious situation is unthinkable to Byakuran and it amuses him even more. If something is serious, it's supposed to stay serious. But perhaps Byakuran hoped too much that he would be able to make Sans break his facade enough to show confusion or shock. But he will never know unless he tries, so Byakuran will continue on his small plan to make the skeleton as confused as possible.

"Nope~. I always like a good show. No pun intended."

Sans grin seems to widen at that, taking out a hand from his pocket to hold it up into the air lazily. Sans has a sense of Deja Vu again, this situation has happened before. But he doesn't know in what way or why, which is slightly annoying to him. Byakuran knows about the RESETS, that much is certain. But is Byakuran the cause of them? That's the question Sans really want to be answered, the main reason why he wanted to talk to the 'angel' alone. Because if they start talking about this stuff with other monsters, they'll simply be confused since they aren't even aware of how time repeats itself.

"but there can never be too many puns. it's simply puntastic."

Byakuran laughs softly, shaking his head in disbelief. Why can't Sans take this seriously like last time? Saying puns to make him laugh, in this situation it's hard to believe that Sans is as analytic as he is. Taking a serious conversation as something he can use to make bad puns is truly remarkable.

"You always surprise me in different ways, Sans-kun. I thought I would make you confused or shocked at least once. But maybe you're too good of a player for me to read you easily."

That gets another reaction from Sans, something Byakuran actually anticipated from what the skeleton himself has told him other timelines. So Byakuran relaxes slightly and dims down his smile when he sees that the pupils in Sans eyes disappear from his sockets. Now, he'll be able to steer the conversation how he wants it to go. To let Sans stay quiet while Byakuran throws a lot of information all at once in his face. He's certain it will make Sans confused for once.

"... player? so you're one of those controlling the RESETS? you really do see all of this as a game."

Although, he hadn't anticipated that Sans would accuse him for the source of the resets, nor that Sans would make his left eye glow in an eerily blue colour. This has only happened once before, when Sans felt the need to force information out of him. Byakuran would rather not be held up against a wall again, which he still hasn't figured out how it works, so he quickly holds up his hands to try and calm down the skeleton. Byakuran's smile is slightly strained, which makes Sans wonder what he could have done in the other timelines to make Byakuran of all people nervous of him. Nothing seems to face the 'angel' in terms of power nor in a conversation.

"No, no. I can't control the RESETS, I'm trying to stop them. Having time jump back and forth will eventually tear this world apart and I don't want that to happen." This information causes Sans to lose the light in his eye and go back to having his normal pupils as he pays close attention to what Byakuran is saying. Knowing that the use of magic is out of the way, Byakuran once again feels at ease and lean back against the chair, putting one of his hands in his lap. "There's no need to be so suspicious, Sans-kun. I've told you all of this before." Byakuran looks up into the roof with a comically surprised expression, putting his raised hand on his chin instead. "Oh, I forgot. Only me and Frisk-chan remember everything. Sorry~."

Sans frowns slightly as he tries to come up with a face which matches the name 'Frisk', but nothing comes to mind. Byakuran says everyone's name with a -chan or -kun added to it but Sans doesn't know why. It must be something specifically for humans on the surface so he doubts he'll understand it anyway. He is also a little irritated that Byakuran would mock him on how he can't remember everything in every timeline but that irritation is easily bypassed.

Sans glances out towards the opening of his station, just to make sure no one is there to listen in. When he doesn't see anyone, he look back towards Byakuran. The 'angels' smile has grown even wider. Sans is cautious, which is always good to see.

"you and Frisk? who's that?"

Byakuran nods his head slightly, really glad he asked that question at least. He thought that would happen. He gestures towards Sans, still keeping one hand placed in his lap. It would have been more comfortable for him if he was sitting in a sofa like he usually did, but beggars can't be choosers.

"See? You don't remember. Even when they told us their name in your house, very quiet but they did say their name. It's kind of sad, really. You would have had enough 'determination' to remember too if you just don't feel like everything is useless. Seeing things repeat over and over, it would get quite tiring if you never try to change your routine."

Byakuran lifts his hands in a shrug when Sans frowns in a glare, he isn't faced by Sans stare if the risk of magic being involved isn't there. Otherwise, the short chubby skeleton doesn't pose any threat to him. Byakuran doesn't know who the strongest is, and he would rather not find out yet either. He needs to research more on how magic works before attempting to fight the skeleton.

"well, like you said, I don't remember every RESET. how am I supposed to know when I'm doing the same thing and when I'm doing something different?" Sans says and reaches over towards a shelf inside his station. He takes a bottle of ketchup and look towards Byakuran in a silent question if he wants some. Byakuran quickly shakes his head, a slightly disgusted look on his face at the thought of trying ketchup like that again. "besides, it's not the Deja Vu feeling that makes everything useless, just that everything will go back to how it was before that. before all this ever happened. since that's going to happen over and over, why bother putting more effort than needed?"

Sans takes a gulp of ketchup and seems to get even more relaxed by its familiar taste. Byakuran can't understand how he can drink so much ketchup like that, it isn't needed at all in his opinion. Byakuran would prefer sweets over anything. But the human quickly controls his expression and smiles again towards Sans.

"That might be true…" Watching Sans drink ketchup makes a thought come to Byakuran which makes him smirk slightly. "Did you know that in another timeline, you love mustard instead?."

Sans look at him, blinking a few times in surprise that he would know something like that. Sans leans forward, interested to hear more. He knows about other timelines and universes, but he has never been able to look through them. Byakuran could do that all this time? Is that why he knows so much? Then it might not be such a surprise that he knows what he does.

"really? you can see them?"

"Of course." Byakuran says with a cheerful smile as he turns his head towards the opening to Sans station. They're still in Hot land it seems. He watches Sans reaction out of the corner of his eye. "Ever since I came here, I've always known about the other timelines in here. But I can't grasp a clear picture of those timelines, just small glimpses. Since I remember everything, I know so much more about everyone in this world." Byakuran turns towards Sans again. The skeleton is still quiet as he stares at Byakuran, leaning forward while still holding onto his bottle of ketchup. But he leans back in his chair again when Byakuran looks at him, the dots in his eyes dimming slightly as if he's off into his own thoughts. Perhaps it's impossible to make Sans react like Byakuran wants him to. But he has a few more cards up his sleeve.

"It's quite curious how there are so many more worlds other than this Underground and this world's Surface. I can see it all and I have never once ended up in Underground. It's very refreshing to find a new place I've never known about with so many secrets to unravel. If I didn't have my ability, I doubt I would be as comfortable as I am right now. It has saved me from a lot of misunderstandings."

Sans know Byakuran isn't a threat to him, they are friends after all, but Sans can't help but feel a little uncomfortable when Byakuran reveals how much knowledge he can have. But also fascinated since he's interested in those other timelines. For all Sans know, this world has been reset many times already and no one but Byakuran and 'Frisk' remembers everything from each timeline. But how can he still keep his memories when even Sans doesn't remember everything? Is it something only human souls can do?

That thought jolts a memory within Sans, making his eyes go black again. That's right…. This guy… He's a human. Frisk is that human child who entered Underground. He's not an 'angel' like he told everyone… He's not the 'savior of monsters' like everyone think he is... Byakuran is actually a human. A normal human who's tricking everyone to believe that he's the angel everyone wants him to be when he's really a human with just some wings attached to him. Sans has always had that suspicion, but it was never confirmed. Even the king said Angel monsters existed once after all and Byakuran is very kind to all monsters. Just what is his goal in being here?

"and one of those is about you, isn't it?" Sans say, staring intently at Byakuran with a small glimmer of blue appearing in his left eye due to his determination to know the truth. "why have you lied to everyone about being a monster when you're really a human? and especially about being this 'angel of prophecy'."

"At least I'm somewhat honest with my origins." Byakuran cuts in automatically so he'll come back 'on top' of the conversation. But when the glimmer of blue disappears from Sans eye and the skeleton tenses up, Byakuran actually feels… bad over saying that. His origins must be a very private one if simply mentioning it would get that reaction from Sans. But it is true, Sans has never told him when and how he and Papyrus came to Snowdin but was happy to talk about other monsters. Same with Papyrus actually, which is very curious. Byakuran shouldn't pry, but it's simply a reflex for him to take any information he has and use it against the one he's talking to so it will make them as shocked, hurt or angry as possible. But that isn't his intentions with Sans, he… Yuni and Tsunayoshi has influenced him more than Byakuran thought.

He sighs softly, running a hand through his hair as he stares down at the floor. He has never felt bad about saying anything to anyone, this is certainly a first. It must be because Sans is the most amusing person in underground, that has to be it.

"Sorry, sorry, that was out of line. But all monsters want to be freed and they believe the only way to do that is to gather 7 manifestations of human souls to break the barrier. If I told them I was human, the royal guard would have hunted me and I would have never done this much in Underground. Being seen as a saviour helped my cause. And it would be such a shame if this interesting world would get destroyed, knowing that I could have done something about it."

After a few seconds of silence, Sans take a deep breath before his pupils appear again. His posture still seem tense, but he netherless looks at Byakuran. But something about that gaze makes something... tightened in his chest. He only felt like this when he made Yuni disappointed or cry, it has never happened when he has said something out of line. Either this place is affecting him in strange ways, or he actually sees Sans as a precious friend. … The first option is more possible in his opinion. He doesn't need anyone other than Yuni. … Or does he?

"you're saying there's another way?"

"Of course there is, but where's the fun in telling that?" Byakuran answers easily, as if he doesn't have any conflicted thoughts inside his head. But Sans can feel that Byakuran is a little less 'energetic' as he was before. So with a small huff, Sans relaxes a little more in his chair. Perhaps this human isn't as complicated as he make himself seem, he actually feels bad about bringing up Sans past. This makes the skeleton feel a little better, that Byakuran regrets mentioning it. "Even if I did tell you, the world would just reset again, the cykle won't end unless we focus on the problem."

"you mean the thing with 'Time is changing'."

This comment makes Byakuran blinks once, slightly surprised but hides it behind an expertly performed smile. When did Sans have the time to write that down? Or does he remember? If so, why didn't he bring it up before? That was said three timelines ago. Sans grin widens, as if he knows that Byakuran is surprised. But that's impossible.

"Yes, that's right. Time in other worlds are constantly changing while I'm here. One moment, I'm watching the same time I'm in, then I see far off into the future. Time holds no solid value in here. Though I doubt it has been like this constantly, because if that were the case I would have known about monsters. But something that happened here caused time to shift outside of this place while still keep going normally in here. It is a very curious phenomena. I have a theory but it's not certain."

Sans shrugs lightly, lifting his hands in the air with the shrug. A theory is better than nothing. But Sans still get the feeling that he won't really like what he'll hear. Not because of Deja Vu, but just a feeling. He'll probably like the content, but not how he got hold of the information.

"you can tell me. any theory is better than none. two skulls are better than one, am I right?"

Byakuran nods, making his smile disappear to show the seriousness of this situation. This phenomena shouldn't be possible if it was performed in the right way, but they obviously didn't have the same kind of resources he and Shoichi did. He is also slightly worried that Sans will get angry enough to use his magic again. Byakuran doesn't enjoy the feeling of losing control of his limbs or that something is moving him through taking hold of his core.

"Something was built in this place which affected the whole world. Not for a single person like it was planned, but I believe because of a malfunction it affected this place within the barrier. I have never heard of Underground or monsters, because it never existed. Perhaps it was destroyed, or perhaps it was transported… The energy from this world came out of nowhere, Sans. All of this has something to do with the time machine."

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Aaand time machine theory is revealed! It stretches much deeper than that, but neither you nor Byakuran knows about that yet. Muahaha~.

Don't hesitate to ask me questions, and please leave a review. Oh, and check out my blog Flametale if you're interested. See ya soon~.


	4. Alphys

Wow, I have barely been able to access my computer at all for a long time... I'm really sorry for the delay!

I think I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow, to make up for the many days where I haven't uploaded. My original plan was to update every 5 days, and I'll do my best to uphold it from now on. I don't know if you've noticed, but I name the chapters after the canon characters which the chapter is about. Mainly at least.

Check out my blog if you're interested in knowing what happens once monsters are released. :)

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Byakuran gets even more curious the further he walks. This is a place he has never seen before, never attempted to see to honor Alphys privacy. And now he knows why it was so important for her to keep it a secret. This is somewhat similar to what happened in the Estraneo family, only without wanting to create a weapon to use. At least Alphys had good intentions with her experiments, she wanted to revive the monsters and break the barrier.

Byakuran has to quickly move to the side when he senses an attack coming, looking behind him to see what kind of thing is attacking him this time. It's a wide blob standing on tentacle legs, the spaces between the legs somewhat shaped like animals. The things 'head' doesn't have any facial features but only one large hole that's opening and closing in a steady rhythm. He frowns at the sad state of the thing and like he thought would happen, a battle is called up by a mix of a yaul and growl coming from the creature. In response to the yaul, Byakurans soul exits from his body to hover a decimeter in front of his chest.

Looking at the orange heart for a quick moment, he observes once again that his heart is burning with his sky flames compared to how Frisk soul is.

If that kid is still Frisk that is…

Byakuran is brought out from his inner musings by another rocket attack from the creature and he quickly has to dodge. Although his flame creates a defense for him, the defense won't last forever if he gets enough hits on his soul. A fake smile forms on Byakurans face as he thinks about his situation. He doesn't know how to please these creatures, but when he read that these things were once normal monsters he doesn't want to kill them. Of course, he is able to kill and wouldn't regret it, but imagining Yuni's expression if she finds out that Byakuran has killed innocents… It makes his heart squeeze painfully.

So instead of killing the creature, Byakuran does his best to get closer to it and uses his Dying will flames to only hurt them. He tried to use only physical attacks, but with their melting bodies it was almost impossible to hurt them that way. He almost got stuck in that thing living inside the sink. It takes some time but Byakuran is able to hurt it enough to make it weary and back off. But he doesn't relax until the creature has disappeared from his sight, sighing in relief as he lightly grabs onto his bleeding shoulder. His soul returns to his body and Byakuran continues walking, still holding onto his shoulder to stop the bleeding. It's frustrating to no end to fight this way, but Byakuran knows it's worth seeing Yuni smile instead of her tears. The only thing Byakuran has to do is not kill them. It's not easy, but not challenging either. He gets hurt, that is inevitable, but he's far from any danger of dying.

If Frisk was here, they would know how to make those things stop fighting without hurting them…

Byakuran ventures forth, walking deeper into the lab to unravel it's secrets. He doesn't know if the lab is connected to the time machine or the time loop but it's worth inspecting at least. The pressure is a lot heavier in here so that must be a sign that he's close. Byakuran doesn't know where the time machine is and he isn't certain if he saw it in any other timeline. He hasn't watched the other timelines in detail this time but just knew that he had to break Alphys rule and 'visit' the lab. It was a little hard to crack the lock, but after an hour he got in. Byakuran can't remember every detail every single timeline, his power will need at least one day to recuperate afterwards so it's not wise to do that all the time. Just when he feels that it's needed.

There are a lot of things here that are very interesting to Byakuran since he is a scientist himself. The thought of extracting Dying will flames from physical souls is very fascinating. Byakuran has never heard of the prospect of their will being able to keep a physical form after death, much less have a physical form at all. If anyone had told him this before coming here, he would have laughed in their face at such a ridiculous assumption. Perhaps the souls gaining a physical form is something entirely unique to Underground. This place does hold a strange and foreign feeling to it, something the monsters call magic. But if the history books are correct that monsters and humans once lived together, then this magic might just be a more self conscious version of Dying will flames. That is a very interesting concept. He might discuss it with Alphys one day, but not now. She is too depressed to be thinking clearly this timeline anyway.

Byakurans eyes widen in surprise when he steps into a room with a large machine hanging from the roof in the middle of it. It's shaped like an elk skull, four tubes forming half circles around the head. He walks closer, inspecting the script written on the tablet in front of it. It is written in English, like everything else is, and Byakuran looks back up at the machine with a new curious light in his eyes. That is the machine Alphys used to extract the dying will flames from the souls. How could the flames within those souls have lasted so long in the first place? They must be in special containers to make sure no extra flames escape from the souls, to preserve as much flames as possible.

Byakuran smiles slightly at the machine before he continues deeper into the lab, looking through every nook and cranny for some kind of clue on the time machine or the time machine's creator. It might have been only future Shouichi who built a time machine, but his future self did partake in researching how it would be possible. If Byakuran can find the blueprints, find the machine and inspect on what went wrong, he might be able to fix it. Maybe that time machine is the source to this strange version of Dying will flames. So if Byakuran fixes the source, this loop might stop. Might being the keyword, none of his theories about this world might even be right. And that is frustrating.

While Byakuran brushes his hand against the wall, he can feel… something there. Also that the pressure increases, like it's trying to move him towards the wall. So he stops, staring intently at the wall tile as he tries to place what this feeling is while ignoring the pressure around him. It is somewhat similar to mist flames, an illusion, but doesn't feel exactly like most flames. This strange feeling from this 'magic' is included in it. Invisibility magic?

Focusing on the tile, Byakuran summons his flames on his hand to dispel the illusion, lighting up the dark 'refrigerator room' in an orange light. It's a lot harder to remove than normal mist flames as Byakuran has to force it away with more flames than the illusion itself uses. And since he has no experience with dispelling this kind of illusion, Byakuran ends up using more flames than he would have liked to remove the fake tile and reveal the handle underneath. Panting slightly at the strain, Byakuran takes a deep calming breath before pulling the handle. In response, a mechanism is activated within the wall with a few 'clicks' and soon the wall next to him lifts up from the floor to reveal a new room.

Feeling a little dizzy from his wounds and using so much flames in one day, Byakuran takes out a cinnamon bun to munch on as he steps inside. The food here in Underground is strangely enough filled with some kind of sun flame that will heal anyone who eats it. The 'magic' is inserted into the food as it's made by the monsters. The same doesn't apply to when Byakuran cooks any food. Perhaps it is because he isn't 'in sync' with the world. He silently wonders if Frisk is in sync with the world since they can use this magic to RESET the timeline and SAVE. He needs to find that out sometime. Or maybe he's already found it out, but doesn't remember clearly.

The room is dark, like any other room he's entered, and he searches on the wall for some kind of switch for a lamp. When he doesn't find anything, Byakuran sighs tiredly and holds up a flame in his hand. This is the reason he's used so much flames, Byakuran really should have brought a lamp…

Once he has a source of light, the human enters this new room, sweeping his flame around so he can take a better look at it. It looks like an office, a very large office. Even more doors are in here, he never thought the lab could be this large with the vast amount of different technology they have in Underground. He hasn't seen any dynamite or cars, but they have elevators, energy fields and a construction which can withstand the heat of Lava. Their computers aren't as advanced as those on the surface, but the Internet has improved with his help. Byakuran could easily hack into every computer and machine in Underground because they don't know that much about firewalls, but he doesn't feel the need to do that. After all, there's no information he wants that he doesn't already know. Or that he wants to find the information himself, not just hack in a computer and find it the easy way. That wouldn't be any fun.

When he strokes his finger on a desk, a thick layer of dust comes with it. This room hasn't been cleaned in a long time. But some question arises, if this office was here, why wasn't anyone working in it? And why would it be this hidden in the first place? The person who hid this room even put an illusion over the handle so it wouldn't be found unless someone was actively looking for it like Byakuran was doing. Just what could be so important in this room?

The pressure around him seems to lessen as he walks further into the room. He opens one of the drawers to the largest desk in the middle of the room, holding his breath as dust swirls around him. Making sure that his flame won't touch anything, Byakuran picks up the first paper in the drawer and bring it up into the light. This only brings up more questions for the man. It seems like this world's history and mysteries are a lot complicated than he first thought. He hasn't ever heard about this name before. Perhaps that's why this office was so hidden.

'Project Core. W.D. Gaster'

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If anyone is confused as to why Byakuran didn't invade Alphys privacy to satisfy his curiosity; he tries to be a better person. Yuni showed that she cares about him, Yuni is his beacon of light and to make her happy with him, Byakuran tries his best to put aside his own curiosity to not offend another person. Like stated in the last chapter, Byakuran starts to feel really bad about offending or hurting other people who he knows and that includes Alphys once he found out about her hidden door to the True lab.

Thank you AnonymousIsSleepy for reviewing again! And telling me that the last chapter felt rushed, I really appreciate your criticism. :)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And I'll be back with a new chapter tomorrow, I promise. Things are starting to wrap up now. :3 I really hope you won't be disappointed in me once we reach the end, but I do have a reason for everything in this fanfic.

See ya soon~.


	5. Chara

Yo, now I'm posting a new chapter, just like I promised. :)

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The streets are empty. The houses are empty. Every monster who could, have escaped to a safer place while the ones who are either strong enough to resist, or didn't want to leave, stayed. The underground has gotten so empty, so blank and lifeless since that human came. But only two people knows what's really happening. It didn't start off like this. It just happened over and over until it drove them mad. Or at least one of them thinks the human got mad, but the other knows better. He knows how quickly Frisk's personality changed, how suddenly her posture and look in their eyes changed. There's someone else in that body, that person isn't Frisk anymore.

The human child approaches the large hotel, a house they've gone through many times and intend to go through this for the last time. It's really annoying for them, more monsters have been evacuated than previous times so they don't have as much LV as before. It must be because of that man. Even that stupid skeleton Papyrus was weary of them before they had even met. This time, they'll make it count. And they'll not let that man get a hold of their heart like that again.

"Yah, kid-chan." The child immediately tenses up at the cheerful voice, turning around with their weapon in hand to look for the voice. "I was wondering when you were coming."

As they find Byakuran, he's leaning casually against the wall, as if he's been there this whole time even if he wasn't there when they started looking. The memory of this man killing them runs through their body as a phantom pain pulses through their soul. Byakuran just continues to smile, without his wings this time, as if he isn't facing someone who has killed the majority of his friends already. He was quick to act last time to stop them, but why did he wait until now to show himself? Why is he acting differently every single time?! It's so frustrating!

Byakuran hums happily, his smile widening as he waves a hand in front of his face as if that will be enough to disperse the tension in the air. It doesn't.

"There's no need to be so tense. I just came to greet you. You haven't had dinner here in a long time, right?"

Byakuran points towards the entrance of MTT building and the child quickly shift into a ready stance at the sign of movement, in case he attacks. They can never be sure what this man will do, but this time they'll make sure he'll lie by their feet in a pool of blood. They won't let themselves be caught off guard. Byakuran laughs a little at their suspicion, dropping his hand and standing up from the wall.

"You need to eat. There's no use in continuing if you have an empty stomach. I'm just showing my great manners to one of my fans."

They scoff loudly at the thought, sneering at the man. Why would he ever think they are his fan of all things? Rather, they hate him. They hate how cheerful he acts, how unpredictable he is and that they just can't beat him because of that unpredictability. It's so infuriating to them!

"I'm not a fan of yours. Far from it!"

"And there I have another reason." He comments lightly before turning towards the door, looking at her with slightly opened eyes over his shoulder. "So can you join me?"

The child freezes up at Byakuran's stare, so intense and so sudden that they can never really get used to it. Unconsciously, they grip into their shirt over their heart, it's beating wildly at the moment. But as suddenly as his serious demeanor appeared, it disappears with an easy going smile.

"Great! Let's go then."

The two humans walk inside the abandoned house together and even if the child doesn't want to, they follow Byakuran into the restaurant. Their eyes widen slightly when they look at the table where they talked with Sans. It feels like such a long time ago and it's completely different this time. There's actually… Food. Only sweets so it can't exactly be called food but that's still something. What's all of that doing there?

Byakuran notices the child's surprised and confused stare, that stare making them look slightly more similar to Frisk. But he quickly shakes away that thought. It's a demon right now,. But he netherless walks over to the table, gesturing towards the food with his smile still in place.

"I made sure you would get something to eat this time. There's no need to sugar coat how much you hate me. Though, I do hope this will 'mellow' down your anger." He picks up a marshmallow, squeezing it slightly. Where did he get those? "But maybe you donut want to. That's fine too, just means more sweets for me." He then throws it in his mouth like he's done it for years, humming happily at the taste.

The child grimaces when Bakuran throws out those puns. He's not good at them in their opinion, not at all. But they see no real danger in approaching the table, even if it is Byakuran. They haven't eaten anything sweet in a long time after all. And it doesn't seem like he will attack them anytime soon. But that is just wistful thinking to the child, because Byakuran's mood can quickly change. The moment they spot chocolate on the table though, they waste no further feeling of doubt and walk over to sit down. They immediately take the chocolate bar and start to munch on it, causing Byakuran to chuckle slightly in humor.

Byakuran sits down on the other side of the table, pulling an glass ice cream full of marshmallows towards him and take a bite. The male gazes at the happily eating child, once again thinking how much like Frisk this one is acting like. But his friend still isn't there, he must find a way to get Frisk in control again. Last time didn't work that well, but maybe talking will. He's never tried that before after all, and he never tried to warn the skeletons and every other monster before either. The child doesn't feel as powerful as they did last time so what he did must have gotten more monsters to flee.

"It's a shame I couldn't find any flowers." He starts off lightly, closing his eyes in a smile when the child looks up at him, scooping up another spoonful of ice cream. "It would have been a lot nicer then. But the only flowers in Underground would make you remember bad things, and I didn't want that."

Byakuran is amused by the way they tense up when Buttercup is subtly mentioned. The man puts the spoon in his ice cream in his mouth, humming as if he's thinking about something. But he already knows what to say, he has planned all of this out including the child's reactions. He has observed them enough to know what they'll do. Right now, the child is confused by his knowledge and how he came upon it. But he'll steer it away from another topic and make them more confused, making their thoughts be something he can play with and wrap around his finger. He knows how to play the game, he just doesn't like to do it to people who are nice to him. But this person isn't Frisk.

"I think that bouquet would be with… Cyclamen, Lavender, yellow Carnation… Maybe Marigold too. That would make a wonderful combination, don't you think?"

When he looks at the child, they have a confused and weary look on their face. They have no idea why Byakuran is doing all of this. First he mentions the buttercups as if he knows something about them and then goes on to talk about which flowers would fit best on the table. This man… is truly confusing. At least he gives them chocolate, they needed something to heal themselves with.

"I… guess…?"

Byakuran seems even more pleased with her answer, nodding to show he's pleased with their answer and picks up a marshmallow to squeeze it slightly. He still has his closed gaze turned towards the child.

"Those flowers really fit you. But if you were to choose, which flowers would you pick?"

As the child watches Byakuran eat the marshmallow, they once again think of just what he's doing. Is he trying to make them feel comfortable and then when they least expect it kill them? They're not that stupid, Byakuran can't be trusted how he's acting at the moment. His tone is too lighthearted for him to talk to someone who killed his friends. Way too lighthearted. So they straighten their shoulders to show that they are alert, tilting their head up slightly and look determinedly at Byakuran. Byakuran doesn't let his smugness show, the child acts just like he want them to.

"I would say white flowers. Daisies, I remember that I liked those flowers too."

Byakuran suddenly bursts out laughing, making the younger human jump slightly in surprise at his sudden outburst. What is that man finding so humorous about what flower they picked? Is he mocking their tastes in flowers? How can he laugh in their face like that!? He asked for their opinion and they gave it to him! He just want to mock them and make them a fool out of themselves!

Just when they open their mouth to say something insulting to Byakuran, he opens his eyes and pinn her with a hard stare which makes them freeze up. They're certain it's their imagination, but it's almost like his eyes are glowing even brighter than usual. But it has to be their imagination, that's not possible.

"Those flowers are awful for your personality. Oleander is better." Byakuran goes back to smiling but with his eyes still open this time, but his gaze not as intense anymore. "The first flower someone chooses is most times the one that symbolises them best. Daisies are a terrible association to you. After all, you are poisonous, not Pure."

The child gets more angry at his accusation. Even if that is true, he can't simply decide what they see fitting for the table just because of the flower's meaning. That's ridiculous! Some other older human can't decide what their preference is! So they glare right back at the man, trying to kill him by simply staring at him. But his smile only widens in response, amused by their attempt to intimidate him. It won't work when the child has chocolate smeared around their mouth like that.

"My choice are Daisies, not some flower I've never seen before! You asked for my opinion and I gave it to you! And what's with these stupid talks about flowers anyway? If you want to kill me, just do it already!"

Byakuran's smile disappear when they say that last bit and this causes the child to feel slightly nervous. But they don't move their gaze from him, keeping up a strong front for their dignity. They won't go down simply because of an intimidating stare. Or else, they would have never been able to gone past Undyne. Damn that fish woman...

"I've never said I wanted to kill you did I?" He starts off, placing his head in his hand with the elbow on the table, his sweets completely forgotten. "You always assume things before it's confirmed, throwing yourself head first into battles without truly knowing of the consequences. You get angered easily when your beliefs are questioned. Questions like 'why are you doing this?', 'do you really believe that's right?', 'what would you do if you fail?'. You hate answering them. I'm not a bad person. But I at least know what my intentions are."

They glare harder at Byakuran, shaking in effort to restrain themselves. If they attack, he really will kill them and they will be forced to do so much to get here again. They didn't SAVE when they came in. And they aren't close enough to the exit that they can reach the SAVE point in time before he can attack. This man doesn't understand anything! They know what their intentions are, who they are. They'll eradicate monsters and humans alike! He doesn't have any right to judge them, he barely does anything in the first place! He must be lying, everyone are lying.

"I know what my intentions are! You have no right to judge me. You don't know anything about me!"

Byakuran starts smiling again, this time it looks a lot more sinister than how he usually smiles. It causes a small chill to run down their back.

"Oh? I'm afraid you're wrong about that one. I know a lot about you."

The way he says that, the way he smiles. It really does seem like he knows them from inside out. But that's not possible, that can't be possible. No one knows them. He doesn't know anything about them, he has to be lying. Frowning, their gaze flickers away briefly before meeting his purple eyes again. He seems only more amused by her small amount of doubt.

"No you don't, no one does. Everyone has forgotten about me, they must have."

"You aren't forgotten as much as you think… _Chara-chan_."

Chara freeze up, shocked that he would know their name. And throw it around so casually too. He shouldn't have heard that name before. He shouldn't even know they're inside this body in the first place. How can he know their real name?

"H-How do you know my name?"

Byakuran closes his eyes in a smile, looking so content when he should be anything but content. Chara really can't understand what that man is thinking or how he even discovered that name. He couldn't have gotten that information without any kind of help. Has Asriel betrayed them already!?

"Hmm~? Oh, I don't know. Just a lucky guess." He opens his eyes again and despite his content looking face and posture, his eyes are piercing. "And what about your necklace? If you were so sure on what you're doing, you wouldn't pick it up every time, would you?"

Chara narrows their eyes at him, putting their hands in their lap to clench their pants. They can't kill him. He doesn't know what that necklace means to them, that necklace doesn't prove anything. But they have to wonder what he means with that necklace hindering them. It isn't hindering them… Is it?

"That necklace has nothing to do with my intentions. I know what I want to do, what I have to do."

Byakuran takes another marshmallow, looking at it as he squeezes the little treat. Chara doesn't know what kind of look he has in his eyes as he stare at the treat, but it makes them feel very uncomfortable.

"You failed meeting your parents expectations. You failed your 'village'. You failed the first time you tried to do this 'mission' of yours. And that caused your death. What makes you think that you could succeed this time?"

Chara leans forward, snarling in anger. How can he know all of this?! And it isn't them who have failed, it's others who have failed! The others turned their back on them so Chara did the same!

"I am stro-."

"But not strong enough." Byakuran interrupts, a smug smirk on his face as he looks back at the child. "You don't have anything truly worth to fight for, that makes you weak. That time you could defeat Sans-kun wasn't because of your strength, but because of his weakness. I don't have any pure reasons to protect this world, but that's alright. Because I'm strong enough that I can ignore such reasons. But you, you are a child. So even if you consume the strength of every single monster, simply because of the prospect of gaining power, do you still believe you can defeat me?"

Chara nods, their resolve and hate for this man hardening at that question. Of course they'll be able to defeat him. If they can beat Sans once, they can do it again. Same with Papyrus. And if they can beat the skeletons, they can beat Byakuran too.

"I can. And I will."

He just laughs a little at her, a mocking glint in his eyes which spell out clearly 'you'll always lose to me'. This makes Chara even more furious. He's looking down on them and that's unacceptable! Chara will make sure to kill him this time.

"That determination won't get you far, _Chara-chan_. I only know one person who can wield it well in this world but that person isn't you."

They scoff, leaning back against the chair and cross their arms. Now it's their turn to smirk smugly, doesn't he already know that person is gone? Trapped within their own mind.

"What, you're talking about that kid? They're long gone and you know that."

Byakuran nods, popping a marshmallow in his mouth before answering. They are saying and doing just like he thought they would. This game is his to play. Soon, they'll reach the end, where Byakuran will come out victorious.

"Of course I do, or else it wouldn't be so easy to kill you. But I wasn't talking about either of you. I was talking about me. You don't know the true nature to your power, how you can consume power like you do or how you can reset. But I do. And if I want to, I can take away all your powers completely, making you a perfectly normal human."

This makes Chara slightly nervous but doesn't break eye contact with the man. If they break eye contact now, it will look like they accept that they can't win. But they can. They don't care what nature their power is, with enough Determination they can beat anything. And Byakuran is no exception. But something doesn't fit well with what he just said...

"If you could do that, you would have done it a long time ago. What's the holdup? If you can defeat me so easily, why don't you just do it?" Byakuran stays quiet, munching on some more sweets as he keeps his gaze on the child. Chara, believing that they've seen through his bluff, laughs loudly before they lean forward and point exaggeratedly at Byakuran. Now, it's finally their time to be on the offensive. "You're lying about that, aren't you? You don't know how to take away my powers! You're just fake! A fake monster hiding behind that stupid smile all the time! You're no miracle worker or angel from a prophecy!"

Byakuran just looks at her calmly, that smile still on his face. Once Chara's rant is over, they get slightly uncertain again. That smile… It really looks like he's a snake preparing for its finishing leap to kill its prey. So venomous...

"I may have lied to people but my existence is not a fake one. Yours is." Chara falters even further, their eyes widening slightly at his words. "You cling onto this hope, this feeling of wanting to be alive that you had to force yourself into another body. That's so pitiful. When you die, your duty is over. No matter how many plans you've made, no matter how much work you've put down into it, you should accept that they're over when you die. The only reason you were able to be alive again at all was because that kind goat buried your body right where Frisk-chan landed. I always was curious why Frisk-chan had the same colour on their soul as you, you inserted yourself from the very beginning. If you had stayed dead, you would have never met me. Wouldn't that have been a wonderful thing? Staying in limbo blackness instead of receiving pain over and over as you die? To be forever alone in the darkness as you reflect over what you have done wrong with your life to deserve that judgment."

Chara gulps slightly, visibly shaking as they remember that horrible feeling of death. The more he speaks, the darker the room seems to become and the more claustrophobic they feel. They can almost hear death whisper into their ear to come back, it's their due. But Chara refuses. This is their body now and they will destroy everyone with it. But the way he talks about it… It almost seems like he has-...

"You… sound like you have experience…"

Byakuran blinks, pretending to seem surprised at her statement. But after a second or two, he laughs and is smiling again, looking like the same cheerful bastard as always.

"I wonder." Byakuran then stands up, making Chara tense and shift to the edge of their seat. They can honestly say that they are very scared of Byakuran in this moment, because he somehow knows so much and they get the feeling he knows even more than that. That thought is terrifying… Not to mention the feeling of death is still looking over them. "This was nice. We should do this again sometime. Well, now I have to go and check on Mettatton-kun. I'll see you later."

Byakuran picks up the bowl of ice cream and marshmallows and walks past Chara towards the exit. They almost jump at the opportunity to kill the threat right now, but they can never know when he's ready for an attack or unprepared. But their uncertainty gives Byakuran the time to exit the restaurant which makes the room eerily quiet. Chara looks at the many sweets sitting on the table but doesn't feel like eating any more. Byakuran has ruined their appetite quite effectively. Meanwhile, Byakuran has a smug smile on his face. He puts another marshmallow in his mouth as he walks towards the core building.

Now that the seed is set, it'll only grow and make them weaker. They won't stand a chance against him and Sans now.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Flower language:

Cyclamen, (Good things come to an end, Death, Goodbye) Lavender, (Caution, Silence) yellow Carnation, (You have disappointed me) Marigold, (Attracts dead souls, ill-faith, Grief, Cruelty) Daisies, (Purity, Loyal love, Innocence) Oleander (You better watch out, Toxic)

It is always implied that Byakuran knows a lot about flower language, so I decided that he could use it to confuse Chara. I hate Chara... Or, ok, I don't super hate them, just dislike them. Because I don't like to play when I kill the monsters... Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

See ya soon~.


	6. Judgement hall

(I'm sorry I couldn't stick to my theme with character names, but I couldn't come up with one I haven't already used...)

I'm back! Sorry, it seems I'm bad at updating regularly... But this isn't a time line directly after when Byakuran talked to Chara, it's long after that. There's a fighting scene here, but I'm not sure if I did it that well...

Only three chapters left and then the story is done!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"This will be the last time, Sans-kun…"

Sans looks up at Byakuran, having stared down into the floor as the two of them wait for Chara to show up. Sans nods, looking towards the entrance to the hall with hatred in his eyes and seems almost eager for the child to get here. That child is a demon, a real monster who's killing everyone.

"yeah. this time, we'll kill that thing for good."

"No, that's not what I mean." The skeleton looks back at Byakuran, the human has an empty look in his eyes as he stares down at the floor. He doesn't have his wings now, he says that having them out constantly takes some energy out of him, energy he would rather spend fighting with. But Sans vaguely remember that Byakuran said his wings made him stronger. Something is wrong with him, Sans is sure of it. But Byakuran won't tell him no matter what. Byakuran meets his gaze and Sans frown. His eyes look almost hollow, this isn't like him at all.

"What I mean is, this will be the last timeline I'll remember everything. Even if I'm powerful, I can't do this constantly. If we don't succeed this time… I don't know what I'll do. Perhaps I'll continue fighting. Or perhaps I go to the surface alone. I'm not sure what I'll decide on."

"go to the surface?" Sans asks, the white dots in his eye sockets shrinking slightly in surprise. Is it really that serious? "you mean… you can actually break the barrier? on your own? but why-?"

Sans cut himself off, looking down at the floor again. Just when he was about to ask the question, a small glimpse of a previous timeline enters his skull. Byakuran has told him about it before, but he isn't strong enough to break the whole barrier. Only enough for himself to get out. Apparently, they need Frisk if the whole barrier should be broken. How many times has it been now? How many timelines have passed since the human kid came here? Sans doesn't know. But for Byakuran to say something like 'I can't do this' then it must have restarted many times already.

"what's wrong, Byakuran? something is happening to you, isn't it?"

Byakuran hums, a happy sounding sound, even if he's far from happy, and looks towards the entrance where Chara will come from. He feels tired, the constant weight on his shoulders and soul that never lets up even for a second. It has always been there, but it feels even heavier now. As if it knows that he is on the verge of breaking and pushes just a little harder. This pressure almost feels alive. It led him to the True lab. It doesn't want him to be there. It doesn't want him to change things in the timelines. Almost as if the feeling is the sound of a booing crowd trying to bring him down morally. It's just… tiring for him. And also, he doesn't want to feel cruel anymore. He isn't lonely, far from it, but no one quite understands him like Yuni does. And Yuni brings out the best side of him. He hates how he needs to kill Chara over and over in hope that Frisk will come back. He doesn't want to become like the man he was in that future. He won't be, Yuni has made sure of that, but the longer he stays here the more it feels like he'll really snap and become that cruel person. Byakuran doesn't want that…

"There's a constant weight on me while I'm here. It's finally taken its toll on me… But I have an idea on how to bring Frisk back. We just need to make sure that the demon stays still while I try it."

Sans gets worried over his friend, knowing that Byakuran must be sugarcoating his situation. But if he has an idea, it's worth trying. Sans is about to confront Byakuran about this 'weight' when they hear distant footsteps getting closer to them. Knowing that it's Chara, Sans stands up from leaning against the pillar and face the entrance, his hands in his pockets.

"alright then. I've got your back, buddy. just don't drop dead on me, ok? we'll talk more later."

"Of course." Byakuran chuckles, standing up as well and walk over to stop next to Sans, a small smile on his face. Now that Sans is paying attention to it, Byakuran looks a little paler than usual. They really need to talk about what has happened to him once all of this is over. When Sans looks ahead again, Chara is already in the room and is walking towards them at a steady pace, determination burning in their eyes with a knife in hand. Once they've stopped, Byakuran holds up his hand in greeting with a cheerful looking smile.

"Yah, kid-chan. Did you enjoy my little present?"

Chara grimaces slightly, their determination wavering slightly. This interaction surprises Sans, because he never heard of Byakuran giving that thing a present of all things. But he supposes it's alright, since the kid seems to have hated it. But he can't help but wonder what it was he gave them.

Seeing Chara's expression, Byakuran feels pleased about himself and laughs softly. So it worked after all. "Good, I'm glad you liked it." The pressure around him gets tighter and Byakuran quickly has to focus on himself to not flinch. The 'attack' only lasts a second and when Byakuran opens his eyes again, Chara is staring down at the floor quietly.

"And you still don't give up. You must be insane, aren't you?"

"I'm not insane, you bastard!" Chara screams out, glaring at the man. Sans is slightly confused over this conversations, but Byakuran must have a reason for it. So the skeleton settles on watching Chara for any sign of attacking while Byakuran plays his little mind game. If it makes the kid give up, everything would get better. Since he remember everything, it'll be a lot easier for Byakuran to push the kids buttons.

"But you are." Byakuran says with a small laugh, lighting up the ring on his hand in orange flame, an A-class sky ring. "Don't you know what insanity is? It's doing the same thing, over and over and expecting the same results. It's useless, Chara. You know we always win. Why continue doing this game if you have no chance of winning from the start?"

This makes Chara even angrier and they charge at the two with a cry of rage escaping their lips. Sans quickly calls up a battle and some of his Gaster Blasters with his left eye glowing in a blue glow. The child's soul exits their body with a 'ping' sound and Byakuran makes his flames materialize into a dragon that sails toward Chara.

The human child is able to dodge the dragon coming their way with a quick side step. Sans bone attacks joins Byakuran's dragon in attacking Chara. A predictable move on their part. The two fights from a distance most of the time, but sometimes, Byakuran has entered a close combat with them. That's when it becomes more dangerous, because of what Byakuran would do once he gets a hold of their soul. There is a slight advantage that Sans is more careful with how he attacks. But the advantage weights out the disadvantage. Not to mention that Byakuran has very high pain tolerance. Once, they got a lucky hit in, but he still kept on fighting.

Chara swings their knife at Sans once they have gotten close enough, seeing as Sans would get killed with one hit. But the skeleton dodges the attack and appears at another place entirely, charging up a Gaster Blaster aimed towards them. Chara turn towards Byakuran, swinging their knife through the air to cut through his stomach. But Byakuran dodges the hit as well and moves in closer towards them. Chara's eyes widen when his hand reach out towards their soul, the ring on his finger burning. But for some reason, which the child didn't believe was possible, they were able to lean away from him just in time and scramble backwards to gain some distance between them and Byakuran.

When they are at a safe distance, they look more closely at Byakuran. He seems to be frozen, his fingers twitching only the slightest. When they see him in such a vulnerable position, Chara starts to grin and take a step towards him to finish off the human. Reacting on instincts though, Chara quickly drops to the ground, letting a beam pass over them and quickly rolls away to avoid the bones following close after. How foolish, they almost forgot about Sans for a second there.

As Sans attack Chara, he can't help but glance towards Byakuran in worry. Now, the human is clutching at his chest while taking deep breaths. Something is seriously wrong with him to act like this during a fight. Chara continues to try and get closer to Byakuran so they can kill him and Sans does his best to get in their way. But Chara is just too good at dodging and is soon upon Byakuran with their knife raised in the air to cut him.

Sans is just about to call out to him when Byakuran looks up and stares Chara in the eyes. Without wasting a second, he grabs hold of the child's arm, bending it backwards so they'll let go of the knife and hits them hard in their stomach. Chara goes limp in his grip when their air is knocked out of them and Byakuran adjusts his grip on their arm so he can throw them hard against the closest pillar. Although, after he has let go of Chara, the pressure once again presses hard against him and leaving him motionless. It feels as if his core is getting squeezed, like someone is squeezing a water balloon hard and hoping that the water will burst out. Byakuran quickly shakes his head and does his best to ignore that tight feeling over his whole body. Sans walk by him towards the kid lying on the ground, the kid who is struggling to get up from the floor. Sans stomp a foot on their back to keep them in place, glaring at Chara with his left eye still burning blue.

"you said you had a plan to get the real kid back?" He says, looking towards Byakuran. The man nods, staring at Chara as he too walk closer to them. The child meets his gaze, trying to put on a brave front but he can see the slight hint of fear shining through their facade. They don't want to feel that pain again it seems. He stops right in front of the child, turning to look at Sans with a small smile. The pressure is still there around him and it's getting slightly hard to focus.

"Yes. Though, it's not a guarantee that they'll come back. I need to be careful." Byakuran sits down on the floor by the child's head, staring blankly into the child's eyes. Under their shirt, Byakuran can see the small glimmer of their red soul beat wildly. Byakuran puts a hand to their head, the hand with his ring on it, and prepares himself for what he's about to do. He has never tried to do anything like this before and he really hopes nothing bad will come out of it.

"I trust you to take care of my body, Sans-kun."

"your body?" The skeleton asks, looking at Byakuran with wide eyes. The man closes his eyes in concentration, looking closely at his flames and converting them like he wants them to. He doesn't answer Sans but rather shuts everything out in favor of concentrating.

Chara opens their eyes to stare at Byakuran, getting worried over the thought that Byakuran could actually successfully bring back that brat. They look towards their knife that's lying far behind Byakuran. If it just was closer to them. Even if they don't have a weapon nearby, Chara starts to struggle now that both Sans and Byakuran are distracted. The skeleton quickly snaps back to reality when he feels Chara moving and quickly puts more weight on them to hold the child still.

"what are you going to do Byakuran?" Sans asks again, struggling to hold the child still. Chara does not want to experience whatever it is Byakuran has planned for them. Byakuran is trying to get rid of them. They still have to get to the surface, they still want to feel alive, they still have things to do, they have to live up to their name. They can't let go of this body!

Chara gets filled with determination and starts to struggle even harder to get Sans off them. If they can get up, they can hit Byakuran in the face and daze him long enough to get their knife. They can kill them both!

But a sudden tingle in Charas head makes their body go completely limp, making their eyes widen in fear. No matter what they try, none of their body parts will move. It is almost as if the are a marionette with all of their strings cut off. Sans quickly look towards Byakuran when he notices that Chara becomes completely limp. Byakuran is smiling in success, a small bead of sweat trailing down his temple. His smile grows larger when he manages to 'unlock' their mind and prepares himself for try to enter it. Just because he isn't an illusionist doesn't mean he can't affect or enter the mind. He must at least try.

"Sans… If something happens to me and you still make it to the surface… Call Yuni-chan and tell her I did it to protect someone."

"what? hey, I told you to not-!"

Byakuran then let's his own mind connect with theirs and everything goes black.

When Byakuran is aware of himself again, everything is still black, but he can see a faint orange glow around himself so he assumes that he succeeded. Byakuran concentrates to feel his body, his real body, and is pleased when he feels the connection. He has heard that people have gone lost in a mind walk and he wouldn't want the same to happen to him.

As he starts walking, the world around him bends and twists to form small colors in the dark. Yellow by his feet and blue everywhere else, like a sky. Either Byakuran hasn't reached the core yet and has to keep walking, or he hasn't actually fully unlocked their mind. So Byakuran continues walking, not wanting to use any more flames on the child's mind. Since he is a sky flame user, it could prove to be really dangerous for Frisk to have more flames inside their head. This is his first time mind walking and he plan on it being his last. Once they get to the surface, he'll bring Frisk to a mist user so they can look over their mind.

His patience is rewarded in the end, because after a few minutes of walking, the blackness completely disappears and shows him a field of buttercups stretching as far as the eye can see. And right in front of him, is the person he's been looking for. Frisk. They're tied up to a stone pillar seemingly in the middle of the field. They're tied up over their whole body with thin roots and is unable to move. Byakuran smiles, focusing on the connection to his body again before he approaches Frisk.

"Yah, Frisk-chan. You don't look so well even with this beautiful weather."

The child flinches when they hear a voice, looking up quickly when they recognize Byakuran's way of saying their name. Tears of joy prickle in their eyes as a large smile shines up their whole face. He came for them! He actually came!

"Byaku! You're here!"

Byakurans smile widens at hearing the nickname they gave him and nods, starting to tear off the roots binding them to the pillar. He starts off with their arms so they can help in tearing off the roots.

"Of course I'm here. You didn't think I would leave you alone, did you? I still have to kidnap you to a few places."

Frisk laughs happily when he says that, wiggling their fingers slightly before they start to tear off the roots on their chest, their grin widening even more. Byakuran has never seen Frisk this relieved before, it must have felt like an eternity to be stuck here with no one around. No further words are needed as Frisk is getting freed and when all the roots are gone, the child doesn't hesitate to throw themselves into Byakuran in a tight hug, shaking and crying. Byakuran lets them cry, patting their head gently while his other arm is wrapped around them in return. This is the real Frisk, the one he got to know. Byakuran concentrates on his connection to his body and then realizes that he'll soon be out of flames. Also, he can feel the pressure on him even in Frisks mind, which must mean that it's even worse for his body.

"Frisk-chan, we can hug later but I need to go now." He tells the child, pulling away from the hug and hold onto Frisks shoulders. Frisk nods, beaming brightly at the man. But their body suddenly tenses up as they glance towards their right. Byakuran follows their gaze and slowly stands up when he realizes who it is. Red eyes, brown hair, rosy cheeks, angry snarl on their face. There's no doubt about who it is.

"Leaving already? But we hand by even started to have fun, _Byakuran_."

Then, the field flowers all wither at the same time and is replaced by a single rock platform they're standing on, surrounded with lava. Chara starts to burn with determination, literally burn as their hands are covered with red and indigo flames. Byakuran walks forward to protect Frisk from the demon, prepared to protect them with the few amount of flames he can use within their mind. He won't have that much time left, he need to make this quick.

"This is my body! Mine! And you won't take it away from me!" Chara screams, motioning with her hand towards Byakuran to make vines and roots appear from the ground to attack him. But Byakuran's resolution is absolute. He will kill Chara and then go back to his body. That way, everyone can have their happy ending.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Mind walking is some dangerous shit if you're not a mist flame user, but this was literally his last option. If you want, I can write up all the different ways Byakuran has tried getting Frisk back. There were many different ways he tried... I'm thinking about posting those attempts on my blog, but I'm not sure.

Please leave a review, any review means a lot to me. ^^

See ya soon~.


	7. Papyrus

Hey, I'm back!

I felt so pumped about posting this chapter, I have no idea how you all will react to this. But I hope you like it!

These last three chapters will play out in the same time line, the time line after Byakuran entered Frisks mind.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Byakuran is sitting inside Papyrus and Sans's house, tiredly looking over a few blueprints he's holding. The time line has reset yet again, but that doesn't bother him. This time, he'll focus on the time machine. He is unwell enough that he won't get bothered by Mettaton for a while, and it's getting tiring to answer the same questions over and over when you've already answered them at least 50 times already. Everyone are worried since sickness often means the monster will turn into dust, that won't happen to Byakuran. But his sickness is more severe than just a normal cold, they are right about that.

Sans enter the living room from the kitchen, holding two cups as he walks over to the sofa. He gives one cup to Byakuran, which he accepts with a small smile, before Sans sit down on the floor again to arrange and look over the papers there. They have been working in silence like this for at least two hours, trying to see which part went wrong with the time machine. It's not really helping that Byakuran isn't in top shape either, because if he was he would have it a lot easier to think. Only sipping on sugar drenched coffee helps him slightly but it doesn't help him a lot. It might have gone better with Shoichi here too…

Absently, Byakuran puts away his mug and digs into his pant pocket after his phone. He calls a number and puts it to his ear, waiting to see if someone will pick up. But no one does. Byakuran is about to frown in disappointment, but then he remembers that time might be changing up there on the surface too. That's why he and Sans are working on this. So without any further ado, Byakuran goes back to looking over the papers and sipping at his coffee.

It's strange, but when he woke up this reset, his body was weak and was hurting a lot from the invisible pressure around him. But now, when they're working on the time machine, the pressure has lifted completely and Byakuran can actually relax to recover. It's almost like he got the bigger hit from mind walking than Frisk even if it was their mind he and Chara were fighting in. It's strange, but he supposed it's better him than Frisk. The kid is still so young. A few setbacks couldn't be avoided from the kid though.

"Byaku, Sans!" Frisk call out as they step inside the house, their cheeks red from the cold and snow on their jacket. Sans jacket to be precise, but Frisk is using it. The human and skeleton look towards them, nodding towards the happy child and putting down their respective papers.

"hey kiddo. you had fun with Papyrus?"

Frisk giggles slightly, nodding their head as they take off the jacket and shoes so they can approach Byakuran sitting in the sofa. After carefully moving the blueprints onto the floor, Frisk climbs up beside the man to hug him tightly. Byakuran pats their head in response, a comfortable smile on his face. Now, this is the kid he's friends with. Little Frisk who is nice to everyone with a happiness that knows no bounds. It's amazing that they're still cheerful with what they've been put through. But it must have something to do with how they don't know what happened when Chara was in control and has lost a lot of memories. Most memories are still there but they've forgotten about Chara and some important things about the surface. They have worse eyesight than before too, a lot worse, but nothing that a pair of glasses can't fix. Byakuran made sure Frisk would get glasses from the very beginning even in his weak state. The glasses are round, like Alphys glasses, and they can barely see through them at the moment since the quick change from cold to warm temperature caused their glasses to condense. The third thing isn't fixable… And that makes the skeletons and human very uncertain about leaving Frisk alone.

"So now you're friends Undyne-chan too? That's good. We're almost done here and then we all can leave for good."

Frisk takes off her glasses to beam happily up at Byakuran, nodding vigorously before hugging him again. The man chuckles and once again starts to pat her head.

"You two the smartest!" They say, looking over to Sans with sparkly eyes. The skeleton shakes his head, lifting his hands in a shrug.

"not the smartest kid, but we're smart. Gaster was definitely the smartest, it's kinda hard to understand what he did to make this thing work."

That makes Byakuran once again think of how Shoichi built his time machine and sighs quietly. If he was here, it might have been easier. Not to mention Byakuran's strange form of flame exhaustion. He is both physically and mentally tired, which is really frustrating when you try to think.

Byakuran rubs his forehead slightly, a headache building up. He can't remember last time he was this bad…

"You ok…?"

When Byakuran opens his eyes, he's faced with the large, sad eyes Frisk is showing him at the moment. He simply nods, smiling with his eyes closed. He's far from fine. He has no idea what is wrong with his body either.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache. Where is Papyrus-kun?"

As if uttering a spell, Papyrus immediately slams the door open and steps inside proudly. Frisk huddles closer into the human male's side when the cold winter air seep inside the house. Byakuran smiles towards Papyrus instead, looking completely comfortable with Frisk by his side.

"Hello Papyrus-kun. You came later than Frisk-chan did. What happened?"

Papyrus point at himself proudly, straightening up slightly. He is almost glowing with the joy he is emitting.

"I JUST TALKED TO A NEW FAN OF MINE. OF COURSE, I ALREADY HAVE MANY, BUT I WOULD NEVER HINDER ANYONE FROM BASKING IN MY WONDERFUL PRESENCE."

"Ah, I know how that's like." Byakuran says absently with a nod. His headache is getting worse by the second and he can feel the magic around him swirl around uneasily. Just what is happening to him?

Hearing that Papyrus has started to ramble and Frisk falling asleep, Byakuran focuses inwards, to the very core of his power and mind to see if there's any change there. If his power or mind got damaged because he mind walked without being a mist user, then he won't know how to deal with it. He might be able to copy some attributes, but he can't copy rain, storm or cloud. And his copies of the flame is never as strong nor as effective as the real attribute is. Anything could have gone wrong. So he looks at his mind first, trying to see if there's any crack or disorder. Nothing is wrong from what he can see and when he tries, his power to look through parallel worlds is still intact. But it makes his body hurt for some strange reason. Even if the mare ring is sealed, he can still do it. It's quite strange but not unwelcome. When Byakuran focus on his flame, his power core, the first thing he notices is that he doesn't have as much flames as usual, which is obviously because of what happened last timeline that somehow got carried over to this one. The second thing he notices is that this unique flame inside Underground is surrounding his core as if trying to break in to get his soul. The third thing he notices is that there is a small crack where this magic has the most dense feeling to it…. A crack… On the 'protection' around his dying will, his soul. This isn't good… Not good at all…

Opening his eyes again and focusing on the outside world, he notices that he has a blanket over him while the other three people in the room continues to talk to each other. Frisk is still sleeping but they wake up with a flinch when Byakuran moves slightly. How long has he been unaware of the world around him? It felt like only a few seconds to him. Now the question is… Is Frisk affected by the magic in the same way Byakuran is?

Not wasting any time in explaining and completely ignoring Papyrus 'YOU'RE AWAKE!', Byakuran puts a hand on top of a drowsy Frisks head and focus on finding their core too. He ignores their blinking, confused stare as he continues searching. After a while he does find it. Their core is in a similar situation as Byakurans, only without any cracks in it. Unknowingly, Byakuran releases a heavy sigh in relief that Frisk doesn't face the same danger he might be facing. The child doesn't have anything to worry about and that's what is important.

"Byaku…?"

When he looks at Frisks worried and confused eyes, he almost tells them what's going on inside his body. But instead of doing that, he smiles at them like he smiles at Yuni. They are similar, Frisk and Yuni. Both of them care for him from the bottom of their heart no matter what happens. He was lucky to have gotten one such person, but now he has two, maybe even more than that.

"Just some bad thoughts." He says without answering any or their questions. Frisk frowns, getting even more worried about him when he says that. But he ignores it and stand up from the couch, a little wobbly but is still able to stand. He can't let Frisk worry about him like they're doing now. They shouldn't have to.

"I'm going to the inn to order a room. It's getting late." Byakuran says, looking outside to see how Snowdin is darker than usual. It's close enough to bedtime for him to use that excuse. Just as Byakuran is about to walk towards the door, Papyrus jumps in his way with his arms spread out and a stubborn frown on his skeleton face.

"NO YOU WILL NOT! YOU HAVE NOT HEARD A SINGLE WORD WE HAVE SAID THIS PAST HOUR, EVEN WHEN WE SAID YOUR NAME. IT IS OBVIOUS YOU ARE NOT FEELING WELL. YOU ARE GOING TO STAY HERE AND THAT IS FINAL. I WILL COOK YOU SOME SPAGHETTI SO YOU WON'T GO HUNGRY, AND YOU SHALL STAY IN OUR HOME!"

It won't be any good if they knew how truly serious his situation is. So Byakuran smiles politely, holding up a hand and is just about to decline when Sans interrupt.

"Papyrus is right. you don't feel well so you should stay here for the night. we'll take good care of you, we don't bite."

Byakuran is still reluctant to stay, scratching his chin with a small chuckle. He really don't want them to know how serious it is. And he doesn't know how magic food will effect him with a crack in his core. It could end badly.

"It's fine, I'm just exhausted. It'll go over in the morning. I'll see you all tomorrow anyw-."

The pressure around him suddenly increases, making Byakuran freeze up in pain as his whole body practically explode in a burning heat. When he starts to tilt forward, Papyrus is quick to catch him so he won't fall. The two skeletons and one child's stares worriedly at Byakuran as he's staring off into nothing, his body tense and unresponsive as Papyrus lightly shakes him.

"BYAKURAN? BYAKURAN, WHAT IS IT?! SANS, WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

Frisk stands up from the couch quickly to approach Byakuran, but then their own body suddenly becomes completely relaxed and they too fall towards the floor. Sans quickly catch the kid, eye sockets narrowing in worry for the two humans. This with Frisk collapsing, that has happened since Byakurans walk through their mind. They don't know what it is and why it's happening, but Byakuran says that they can find out about it once they get to the surface. The kid just needs to rest and they'll be back up on their legs again.

Holding the human child, Sans looks towards Byakuran and quickly tries to think of something they can do. He has no idea what's happening, he doesn't know a lot about humans so he doesn't know how to help. He looks at the papers scattered over the floor. He noticed that Byakuran seemed to relax more when he was working, but he has no idea if anything like that would work for him with the state he's in now.

"lie him on the couch is a start." He says, adjusting his grip on Frisk. With a frown on his face, Papyrus puts Byakuran down on the couch and starts shaking him again but more violently this time.

"COME TO YOUR SENSES! YOU ARE WORRYING THE HUMAN, BYAKURAN! YOU SHOULD NOT STARE AT NOTHING!"

"bro, I don't think shaking him like that will help. the neck is vulnerable." Sans says, stopping his brother from hurting him. Once Byakuran is resting properly on the couch, Sans places Frisk next to him on the couch. He stares at the two humans for a short while before looking back at Papyrus. Maybe Byakuran has something for this back in his home. "I'll go to his house and see if he has something there that can help. try to wake him up." patting Papyrus once on his shoulder, Sans is gone in a flash of blue light as he teleports to Byakuran's apartment. Frisk is still limp as they lie on Byakuran's chest, but their eyes move up to look at Papyrus. The remaining skeleton can clearly see the panic and fear in their eyes. So he gently pats Frisks head, grinning slightly to put on a brave front for the child.

"I-IT'S GOING TO BE OK, HUMAN. BYAKURAN WOULDN'T BE BEATEN THAT EASILY."

Frisk looks up at Byakuran's face, hand twitching as they struggle to make their body move. But instead, they fall asleep without any warning. Papyrus looks between the two humans, one sleeping and one staring at nothing. If shaking and talking won't help, then maybe water will. So Papyrus moves towards the kitchen to get water. When Papyrus is gone, Byakurans eyes start to focus again without any real reason. Groaning, he closes his eyes and moves a hand up to his forehead. His face is damp with sweat. It feels like he has been run over by a truck and then dipped in a pool of lava, this really isn't good.

Byakuran notices that there is something lying on him, something that is making him even warmer. He starts to push it away, but then registers that the weight is actually a human. A tiny human, Frisk. So when they starts to slip from the couch, Byakuran quickly grabs onto them so they won't fall. But his grip is slipping. Why does he have to be so damn weak?

Papyrus quickly picks up the child, having heard when Byakuran 'woke up' and holds Frisk to his chest as he looks at the older human. Byakuran opens his eyes, staring up at who saved the kid from hitting the floor.

"Papyrus…" He mumbles, releasing a heavy sigh before he closes his eyes again. Still holding Frisk with one arm, Papyrus pats Byakuran's forehead with the other hand, frowning even harder at seeing his face even redder than usual.

"WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE THIS RED?"

Byakuran forces out a small chuckle, opening an eye to look at the skeleton. It seems like he really does have more than two people caring for him…

"No… I'm not…" He says weakly, tensing up when another wave of pain washes over him. He smiles slightly in irony, seems like this world really has something against him. He tries to break the constant cycle and in return, he's dying. That's what he gets for doing the right thing after the sins he has done in another future. A fitting end in his opinion, but he will see it through at least.

"I'm… paying for my sins… seems fitting…" Byakuran chuckles again, grinning. Papyrus looks between the human in his arm and the human on the bed, Frisk is still sleeping and Sans still hasn't returned. That expression makes Papyrus feel nervous. Not for himself, but for Byakuran. It looks like one of those expressions Sans can make when he thinks no one is around to see it, like nothing matters anymore.

"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SINS, BYAKURAN. RATHER, YOU HAVE DONE MANY GREAT FEATS! NOT AS MANY GREAT FEATS AS I HAVE DONE, BUT MANY NONETHELESS. YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO TAKE OFF YOUR CHEST, I CAN SEE IT. BUT DO NOT WORRY, I AM HERE TO LISTEN."

Byakuran looks at Papyrus for a few seconds, Papyrus staring back at him with a bright smile as comfort. Another weak laugh passes his lips, tilting his head slightly to give Papyrus a stare of disbelief. Well, since he asked, Byakuran might as well humor him. He completely ignores the short flash of blue appearing in the corner of his eye as he looks at Papyrus. Frisk stirs slightly in their sleep.

"Well, Papyrus… I'm dying... My soul is cracking..." Papyrus smile immediately disappears, eye sockets growing wide in horror. He never imagined such a thing happening and he has never heard of anything like that happening either. Especially when a human is still alive. There's the sound of a metal object dropping to the floor and Byakuran looks to his left, his grin growing when he sees Sans equally shocked face. This just feels so ironic that he can't get the smile off his face. When he's doing something good, that's when he's dying.

Sans is horrified, looking at Byakuran with very small dots in his eyes. Byakuran will die? He has always seemed superior, unbeatable, someone every monster looks up to. And now he casually says, with a _smile_ , that he's going to _die_? Sans and Papyrus can't believe that there's anything joyful about dying, they themselves are scared of dying. But Byakuran just smiles and says it without any fear, only acceptance. Doesn't he even realize how many there are who are worried about him, who care about him? Papyrus is standing in front of him, clearly worrying and wishing only the best, and Byakuran just casually says that he's dying? That won't happen, they won't allow it.

Sans pupils disappear completely, putting his hands in his pockets and staring down at the little box with a red cross on top of the case. He picked it up from Byakuran's apartment and thought it might help. Now he comes back to hear this? Seriously, what is this human thinking?

"... what are you smiling about? that kind of joke isn't funny Byakuran."

Byakuran chuckles again, turning his gaze up to the ceiling, putting a hand to his warm forehead. He just can't help it, it's all so amusing.

"When I do… something good… that's when I'm dying… It's just so… so ironic…" He can't help but chuckle again, moving his hand down to covers his eyes as he just continues to chuckle weakly. "I-... I'm dying, burning... Like I killed others… My power will be the death of me…"

The house is eerily quiet as Byakuran just continues to laugh at nothing.

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Cliffhanger...

Mind walking and making Frisk in control of the body again took a lot out of the two humans. Now, Frisk has received a permanent illness and Byakuran is only getting weaker. What will happen next? :3 Two chapters left!


	8. Gaster

Hello~! I'm back!

I've fixed up some things in the previous chapters, just small mistakes I noticed after I posted it so there's no need for you to go back an read it. Although, I have added a small little thing on the first chapter which kind of summarizes what this whole story is about in a discreet way.

We're closing in on the end everybody! Although, there will be an Epilogue too, just to kind of 'blend in' this story with the AU universe Flametale. ... I still need to draw more Flametale designs...

Enjoy~.

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When Byakuran wakes up, he's lying face up on the couch with a blanket over him. A little disoriented, he looks around to see if there's anyone else around but he doesn't see or hear anyone. He slowly sits up, holding onto his pounding skull with a small grimace. He remember sitting up late, solving what was wrong on the blueprints, wrote a quick note on how it could be solved before he fell asleep. It's really annoying how weak he is… He's so used to constantly being strong and having a lot of flames that now when he can't let his flames recover, he constantly feels like a heavy sack of potatoes. Which is being repeatedly hit in the skull at a steady pace.

Byakuran closes his eyes, taking a deep breath to concentrate and start to use the little flames that he recovered during the night to mend together the crack slightly. If he had more flames, he would have been able to fix it by now. But since magic is always trying to get break through and his flames are recovering at a slow pace, the crack is still the same, if not a little bigger, as yesterday. Still a little dizzy, Byakuran slowly stands up, holding onto his head as he makes his way into the kitchen. He needs something to eat and drink, preferably something he makes himself so it won't have any magic in it. Magic makes him feel better but it doesn't help his core at all. He might gain more flames from eating magic food but he must use them all just as fast so the pressure won't crack his protection completely.

Opening the cabinet for the frying pans, he takes one out and place it on the stove so it can heat up while he fix himself something to drink. On his way to the fridge, Byakuran notices a piece of paper lying on the kitchen table. So he sits down to read it, his head is getting a little more dizzy even by walking. He doesn't know if it's out of consideration to him or simply because they felt like it, but the message is written in large letters so it will be easier for him to read. And the thought of them taking consideration to his constant headache makes him smile as Byakuran reads the message.

" _Frisk made you some food, it's in the fridge. fixed up your notes from yesterday night so it should be an easy fix now. just a little longer, hang in there buddy. -Sans_ "

Byakuran chuckles once he has finished reading the note, standing up again to turn off the stove. If Frisk made the food, then it should be ok for him to eat it. He doesn't know where Papyrus and Sans are but he has his suspicions that both of them are helping Frisk because of their condition. 'Hang in there' is something no one has said to Byakuran before. He has always pulled through thanks to his power and knowledge. But now… Well, that phrase does fit with his current situation. And he absolutely hates it. At least he didn't collapse more than once yesterday.

After a quick meal and drink, Byakuran feels a little better but doesn't have the same energy rush as he gets when eating magic food. He briefly check on his core and is pleased to feel that his flames are slowly building up without the crack getting larger. So with that done, Byakuran moves over to the lab so he can fix that time machine. If it isn't long until the barrier is broken, then he shouldn't delay the reparation any further. With everything planned out and ready, it's just to fix it. It shouldn't take long. Then after that, he can go to the castle to see what's happening and maybe help this time. If he is strong enough to help with so little flames.

It's a long process fixing the machine, much longer than Byakuran thought. Being constantly dizzy doesn't help him either and he needs to check up different parts of the blueprints many times just to make sure he read it right. Somehow he manages to read the blueprints correctly and fix up the parts that needs to be fixed. Of course, he checked to see if he missed anything many times before he felt that he was done. The whole machine is driven by this magic in the air, absorbing it and converting it into time energy which should affect only the object inside. But somehow, that procedure must have been reversed because of an accident and the object inside was instead spread out into the magic. At least, that's what Byakuran think happened but he can't be certain. That would also explain why the magic feels so alive at times. And lucky for him, the magic doesn't bother him at all while he's working on the machine, almost like it's pulling back to give him more space to work with. It's strange, but not unwelcome in his current state. And sometimes he can hear whispers when he can't read one part of the blueprint clearly, as if it's trying to help him. But why living magic would do that is something he won't figure out on his own.

Finally, after hours of working, the machine is finished. It should be finished at least, because he has done everything in the blueprints that he and Sans took notes on that was important. And besides those parts, everything with the machine is as it should be. But he won't turn it on while he's alone, no one knows what might happen when it's turned on. So with a proud nod, Byakuran covers the machine again before walking out the door and towards where the river person should be. It's a fast way of traveling and he can't exactly use his wings at the moment. He might need his flames for protecting himself and fighting so he don't want to use them unnecessarily by flying.

But Byakuran doesn't get far before he freezes up, trembling as the pressure once again weight down on him. He stumbles slightly, gripping onto his shirt over his heart with a frown on his face. His body starts to grow warmer, just like it did yesterday, and he grunts softly when another stab of immense heat stabs his chest. This pressure is the magic that is alive, the magic that has a will. Byakuran really can't understand why the magic does this to him, and why it is attacking him specifically. Receiving another wave of pain, Byakuran stumbles again and falls down to his knees in the snow. But he refuses to give up so easily, he will use any flame he has to fight off this magic. He can't disappoint Sans, Frisk and Papyrus by just dropping dead because some pain made him lose his concentration.

Reality shifts around his, disorientating him even further. But something seems strange, because a figure is slowly forming in front of him.

While this happens, the scarfed mouse is just about to enter the Library when they spot Byakuran falling to his knees. They jump in surprise, since Byakuran doesn't seem like the kind of person who would fall down easily, and quickly run over to him.

"B-Byakuran! Are you ok?!" They scream out, skidding to a stop beside him and puts a small hand on his shoulder. They quickly pull their hand away though since they didn't expect Byakuran to be so warm. When it doesn't seem like Byakuran hears them at all, the mouse gets even more worried over him. Since he's trembling, they think that he might be freezing, but that can't be it since he's so warm. Mouse shakes him gently, and leans down to try and look him in the eyes and silently wonder if his face should be that red.

"Byakuran, you're all red. If you want to cool down, drink water instead. Not fall into the sno-." They cut themselves off when they see his eyes. Those purple eyes that are usually filled with a mischievous glint at all times are completely blank. As if there's no person in there. A small seed of fear grows within them, Byakuran is the Angel of the prophecy. If something happens to him, then… Then they'll be stuck in Underground forever. Mouse shakes him a little harsher this time, getting even more worried over him when he doesn't respond.

"If t-this is a joke, it isn't funny at all! Wake up!"

But not even their pleading can wake him up as his gaze stays completely blank. He's still alive, because he has a hard grip on his shirt and is trembling a lot, but his eyes are just so _gone_. Mouse isn't strong enough to carry Byakuran anywhere, they need to call on Brown bear for that. So they quickly stand up and look around to try and spot the bear, so they can get his help. But they don't have to, because when the Mouse stands up, Byakurans eyes come back to life and he starts coughing and breathing heavily as if he just got back to the surface after a swim under water. Mouse almost smiles when they see that Byakuran is back and crouch down next to him in case he needs any help.

"That was a really bad joke, Byakuran. Not funny at all."

The human chuckles when they say that, still clutching his chest as he looks at the mouse with a small smile. He needs to get to Frisk. He needs to get to them now.

"I need to get to the castle. This is really important." He says before he starts to stand up, wobbling slightly in unbalance before he rightness himself. Mouse hovers close to him, not really sure of what to do. "You can start to tell the others, the barrier is going to be broken today."

"W-What?" But that is the only thing Mouse manages to ask before Byakuran starts to take long, fast strides towards where the river person should be. The mouse stares after Byakuran, their mouth open in shock. They're… going to get free today? He's going to set them free?! Is that what that gaze was about?! A huge, rare smile spreads across Mouse's face and he quickly run towards the library to tell about the good news.

Meanwhile, Byakuran keeps a steady pace as he walks towards his goal, doing his best to not be affected by the waves of pain and heat washing over him. He stumbles and almost freezes up a few times, but now that he knows why he's reacting like this, it's a little easier to ignore. That man truly is a fool if he thinks some magic will be enough to bring down Byakuran. He has survived fatal wounds many times, hits to his soul won't bring him down either. He refuses to be taken down by ghost, he is stronger than that. Byakurans resolve is better than his. He needs to meet Yuni again, she would be brokenhearted if he never came back. If he only had his Mare ring, it would have been a lot easier.

W. D. Gaster will not take him down.

Another wave of extreme heat rolls over him and he has to stop for a few seconds to fight it off properly. His flames are trying to escape from his core through the crack. Some actually manage to escape, which is why his body heat is so high. He needs to think of something, anything that could help him with making his flames stay where they should. Focusing it in the centre lessens the pain, but his flames still escape through the crack, his power is just too large.

Byakuran grips onto his head, gritting his teeth as he does his best to take command of the flames that has spread into his body.

 _ **I'm sorry... I need to do this…**_

Byakuran narrows his eyes in anger when he hears that voice in his head. This being is messing with his brain, his body and his very core. They don't need to do anything, nothing about this is needed. They should just stay like they are and leave him alone. Or better yet, choose someone other than him. Byakuran won't die, he won't.

With more determination, he manages to start walking again, eyes narrowed and sights set on getting to the river man. While he walks, he focuses on his core to try and pull back the flames slipping through the crack and using those flames he pulls in to heal it. He only manages to pull some flames back, but not use them to heal. Doing both of those and walking is too hard of a task.

" _ **Go… bother someone… else!**_ " He says to the living magic, to Gaster. He never thought anyone would know his home language in Underground since everyone speaks in English. But he's not pleased to know Gaster, not at all in fact. Byakuran would have preferred it if he didn't hear Gaster speak at all.

… _**I can't. You're the only one that could hold me.**_

The pressure increase after Gaster tells him this just when he's about to step onto the river boat. So instead of stepping onto the boat like he planned, Byakuran instead almost falls over the boat when his body freezes again. If the River person weren't there, he would have fallen into the water. Quickly coming back to his senses, Byakuran sits down properly in the boat, holding his head in his hands and his eyes closed in concentration.

"Hotland… As close to the castle as possible…" He says stiffly, grunting as more of his flames escape and makes his body even warmer. Quietly, the River person starts to move them along the water towards their destination and Byakuran gives his whole attention to keeping his core stable and staying alive. But that Gaster makes it really hard for him…

 _ **Why can't you just accept me? Then you wouldn't be in pain!**_

" _ **S-Shut up…**_ " Byakuran says quietly, drawing in even more of his flames to its rightful place. " _ **You… are killing me… Why… should I let you in…?**_ "

The River person glances quietly over at Byakuran when they hear a different language come from his mouth. But seeing as the human isn't talking to them, the River person looks ahead again and pretend that they didn't hear anything.

 _ **Because I am the source of all this, please. I just want them to be happy.**_

Oh, and this Gaster doesn't believe that Byakuran wants this RESET thing to end? If Gaster is the source, then he should destroy himself as help, not try to destroy Byakuran. Byakuran still needs to stay alive. He actually wants to do something meaningful, he wants to help the monster race join the humans on the surface. He wants to help these creatures who are too kind for their own good and he has to see Yuni. He needs to show her that he is alive.

" _ **Then pick… someone else...! Yuni… needs me…!**_ "

It's quiet for a while as Byakuran continues to draw his flames back into his core, the temperature of his body dropping slightly. It's working. So he continues to draw back his flames, making them briefly convert into sunflames as they get past the crack. He slowly getting the higher end of this struggle.

… _**Then, I'm truly sorry…**_

Now Gaster too presses on him harder, making Byakuran flinch and struggling to simply keep his core intact. He needs to get away from Underground as soon as possible. But he'll need to make a quick stop at the lab before that...

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So it is Gaster who is slowly breaking his core. And what is Byakuran planning for him to visit the lab? Cookies and hugs for the one who can figure it out! :3

Next chapter is the last one of when they're in Underground.

See ya soon~.


	9. Asriel

I'm so sorry for the long delay... I have this chapter to blame and my own insecurity...

The first version of this chapter wasn't good in my opinion, that it had too many jumps. Second version of this, I felt like I screwed up the third POV with how I was focusing on everyone at the same time. Third version, I screwed it up again by constantly changing the view. And then, I wrote out this chapter. To say that I wasn't sure how to write Third POV in this situation is a clear understatement. In my opinion, this chapter shows that I'm not used to this writing style...

But last chapter everyone! This one is way longer than all the other chapters I've written. (about three times longer...) I hope you enjoy~.

(Guest reviewer Prince, your review made me smile for a whole day. It was so awesome. XD)

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Byakuran meets a child on his way to the castle. He found it strange how empty it was, but now he understands why. When Byakuran is about to enter the elevator leading to the castle, the door opens and a small goat child steps out. He must stop and blink a few times, staring at the child as they do the same. He has a vague memory of seeing this child before, way back when the last true ending took place.

So he smiles at the child in greeting, because he can't exactly lift up a hand while they are occupied keeping him stable. And he gets the feeling he shouldn't show this kid what he's holding.

"Yah, kid. Nice to see you again. Good to be walking on two legs?" Byakuran doesn't know why he said it, but it just felt right. He knows this kid, that much is certain. That nagging feeling always pops up whenever he meets someone he knows from a parallel world, but this nagging is deeper that that. The kid smiles awkwardly, scratching the back of his head while looking down to the floor.

"Y-Yeah, it is. I never thought you would come too, Byakuran."

When the kid looks up again, he spots how Byakurans fist is clenched tightly and is holding up his entire body weight. The child immediately gets worried over him, stepping out from the elevator to approach him with his paws slightly raised in the air like he can catch Byakuran if he falls. But the child is way too small to catch someone as old as him, even if the monster have lived longer than he has.

"What's wrong? Has something happened to your soul? Is it because of the RESETS?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Byakuran says, shaking his head as 'no'. He opens his eyes to stare down at his chest, still concentrating on protecting his core, but his flames will soon run out. Again. He needs to find some way to end Gasters constant nagging. Since his headache is gone, he should be able to come up with something if he tries. "It's not because of the RESETS, but if I don't get to the surface soon, I'll probably die."

The magic doesn't falter in trying to get past his defences. Gaster has stopped hesitating completely. Some of the few flames he has left manages to escape through the crack and makes his body even warmer. With a twitchy smile, Byakuran places his forehead on the stone wall in hope that it will cool him down. The heat just increases when his concentration is momentarily broken and even more flames get out into his flesh.

The child chokes on air when he hears this, staring at Byakuran with huge, shocked eyes. Byakuran, the person Chara was never able to defeat, the person who had so many plans when he acted in this world. He is going to die?

"D-Die? B-But-! Y-You can't-! This is bad… H-Have you stopped the power to reset already? You must have, haven't you?"

Byakuran looks back at the child, flinching slightly at a powerful blow to his core before he regains his composure with a smile aimed towards the goat child. His body temperature is very warm and now he is really grateful that he took off his long sleeved shirt back at the lab. But he had to keep his vest, he has important stuff in its pockets. Byakuran has a strong feeling that this child could be the solution to all of his problems, but he doesn't know why. He doesn't remember their name either, but he is certain that when he does, he'll remember why this Child is so important.

"No, it wasn't that easy. Now, the power is trying to destroy me for trying." Of course, that is a lie. The reason to this magic is attacking him stretches a lot further than that. Such a reason would be way too simple for it to be the reason why Underground's strongest magic in the air is pressing down on the core of his powers. But the child doesn't have to know about that part. Just hearing that part of the power trying to destroy him makes the boy even more worried and frightened. The child puts a hand to his forehead and looks down at the floor.

"N-No… B-But then… If the power is still there, then the world will still reset… And if you still survive that, you'll be a a lot weaker than usual. A-And now that I know…" The boy looks up at Byakuran with tears in his eyes, expression twisted in worry and despair. He is really worried for Byakuran. "W-When I become a flower, I'll hunt down and kill you!"

That triggers a memory in his mind, a very important one. This child is Asriel, son of king Asgore and queen Toriel. The child who died, lost their soul and got resurrected by Alphys as a flower without a soul. Without a soul… Asriels core is empty. He can absorb both human and monster souls. That might just be the solution he needs. So with his smile widening and a small laugh escaping him, he heaves himself up, staggering slightly before he is able to stand straight in front of Asriel. Byakuran puts his free hand on top of the child's head and ruffles his fur gently. While he does this, Byakuran discreetly looks over Asriels core.

"Don't worry, Asriel-kun. When you said that… It actually gave me a great idea." The child stops crying, looking curiously up at the man. Byakuran feels the magic pause slightly, knowing that it is Gaster, the ghost must be curious over this conversation. So with the attacks paused, Byakuran quickly continues to explain his plan before Gaster starts to attack him again. When he feels his legs trembling, he must remove his hand from Asriel and put it back on the wall so he won't collapse.

"Asriel-kun. Would you like to have a soul again?"

Asriel's eyes widen even further, his body relaxing completely due to shock. He stares as if Byakuran has grown two heads out of nowhere and started to dance a weird dance. The thought of Asriel gaining a soul just like that seems impossible to him, unthinkable and foreign. He needs to steal someone else's soul to get one of his own. He immediately feels panicked when that thought enters his mind and he tenses up, clenching his paws into fists as he stares determinedly at Byakuran.

"No, I can _never_ take your soul, Byakuran. You have done way too much for this world, for Frisk, for me to take your soul. You have people to go back to and I-."

"I wasn't talking about my soul, Asriel-kun." Byakuran interrupts with his eyes closing when his smile grows wider. The magic still hasn't attacked him yet. "This little problem with resets is magic that's alive. It needs somewhere to stay and I think you'll be the perfect candidate." He stares seriously into Asriels eyes to make him keep quiet when it looks like he's about to say something. "Of course, all energy can't enter you, that's way too much, but at least enough so it won't affect the whole world and make it keep its constant time loop. The energy would gain consciousness within your core and make it strong enough so you'll stay in that form. The both of you have one part, but not the other. There are a lot of things that could go wrong by doing this, but it's better than any other option."

 _ **This child… Is also half of a whole…?**_

Byakuran can't help but smirk slightly when he hears Gasters response, pushing off the wall to move into the elevator. Byakuran needs a reference, and what better reference is there than Asriels father? The child is so deep in thought that he doesn't notice Byakuran entering the elevator, which is good for Byakuran since he stumbled and forgot to hide what he's holding. The pressure of Gaster is gone now from his core. Not completely gone, but now it's helping him. Gaster is making sure no more of his flames are escaping. His once single crack is now all over his core, he won't be able to use his flames properly until he fixes this.

"A-Alright…" Asriel whisper, looking up to where Byakuran last stood. The child is confused for a few seconds until he turns to see Byakuran leaning against a wall in the elevator, one arm raised weakly and pointing to the floor button.

"Good. So let's go up so I can get a reference."

Asriel feels doubtful about seeing other monsters, he was supposed to leave before everyone woke up. He isn't supposed to break their hearts by showing up and then suddenly become a flower again. But if Byakuran can give him a soul, then… Would it be worth it…?

"B-But I can't see them. What if it doesn't work and I just turn back into a flower? They would be heartbroken! I can't do that to them."

When the child sends him a fearful glance, Byakuran smiles what he hopes is an encouraging smile. He understands how Asriel feels, afraid of what the ones he love will think of him now that he's coming back to them. It's somewhat similar to how Byakuran felt when he decided to fight for Yuni in the arcobaleno battles. But he needs just one last push. It needs to be done.

"Even if this doesn't work, it would mean the world to them if they would be able to see you again."

Asriel is still doubtful, staring down at the floor and shuffling his feet. How can Byakuran be so sure about that? Maybe his mom and dad have forgotten him. It's been so long after all. And he isn't even the _real_ Asriel, he's a flower with a piece of Asriels soul and all of his memories. He's just a replica. Will they really love a replica? Will they really see him as Asriel? He doesn't have a soul… But if he goes with Byakuran, he might just get one of his own. But will it really work? If not, it would be better for him to just leave. No matter what Byakuran says, it isn't worth showing himself and then break their hearts immediately after.

Byakuran sees Asriels hesitation and sighs tiredly. He doesn't have all the time in the world, but Asriel needs this. If it feels like this is his own choice, then he won't complain about what Byakuran will do. If Asriel doesn't step in now, he'll use force.

"Asriel-kun. I am the person who knows more about this power than anyone in any parallel universe. I have more knowledge than you can ever imagine about what you call magic, which is really an alternative version of human's 'determination'. Once, I had the power of a god and have destroyed the world more times than you would be able to count. I can become the most powerful being you can ever imagine and you are doubting me on my ability to successfully give you something as simple as a soul using the energy around us?" Byakuran puts on an easy going smile, his serious mood dispersing like a leaf floating down a stream. "I must say, I'm a little hurt to hear that. Don't you trust me?"

Asriel actually feels more uncomfortable than he's ever been in Byakuran's presence. The thought of Byakuran becoming a god, that thought is actually possible. But for him to become more powerful than Asriel was just a few minutes before? That thought is downright frightening. Can that really be possible? What would he have to do to gain that much power to destroy the world? How many people would he have to kill, to consume, before he becomes a god? Can a human really absorb another human? But that seems impossible, it is impossible. And when he talks about parallel worlds… does he mean there are other worlds than this one? That seems impossible as well, it can't be possible.

Asriel is brought out from his thoughts when an invisible force pushes him inside the elevator, the doors closing behind him when Byakuran presses the button that will take them to the castle. Asriel wants to leave, since meeting his parents would only bring them and him more pain in the end, but at the same time what Byakuran said is partly true. He knows more about magic than anyone even if he isn't from Underground but has never shared his knowledge with Asriel but only given him small hints to that he knows about it. With Byakuran's help there is actually a chance that Asriel might get a soul, his own soul without having to kill or steal anything for it. This thought makes Asriel smile and relax. He will do this, he will actually get a soul.

As the elevator is taking them up, Byakuran has his eyes closed and is thinking of different ways he can break to the news to all the monsters who will be present. He also puts a lot of focus to pulling back his flames into his core and using the majority of it to fix the deeper cracks in his soul. He grips onto the syringe a little tighter, he will need to use it again once he can sit down.

"Byakuran? W-We're here."

Asriel is fidgeting at the door for the elevator, a nervous smile on his face directed to Byakuran. The human nods, stands up straight with a little wobble before he walks out with the goat child. Asriel gently takes hold of Byakurans hand and lead him forward, giving the human the only support he can. Byakuran can't help but smile slightly, focusing more on keeping his core intact now that he doesn't have to focus as much on walking. He's running out on flames, he need to use it now. But Asriel can't see…

Byakuran stops walking and focus on his surroundings. They've made it to the middle of the yellow corridor. Or 'judgment hall' as Sans likes to call it. This will be a good place. He'll get some time alone while Asriel runs off to get the monsters. He completely ignores anything Asriel is saying and walks closer to a pillar, sitting down and leaning his back against it. Groaning softly at the ache in his body, Byakuran opens his eyes to give Asriel a small smile. The child is at the brink of tears and is hovering his paws in front of him in worry. It's adorable.

"I can't walk more… Once I get some rest, I'll be better. But I don't have much time. You go on ahead and get them, but not Toriel. She wouldn't handle seeing you get hurt when I give you a soul. Asgore is important though, I need him as reference."

Asriel stands there for a few more moments and opens his mouth as if he's about to protest. Byakuran gives him a glare, which silences the child and makes him look down at the floor. He's shaking in fear, even more tears gathering in his eyes. He's absolutely terrified of the thought of meeting his parents alone.

"Asriel. We don't have time for small doubts. You need to go." Byakuran says sternly, adjusting his grip on the syringe. Asriel can't see it, he would try to stop him. Byakuran needs to be alone.

Asriel clenches his eyes shut tightly, letting a few tears run down his face as he nods. The child then quickly runs off towards the throne room where everyone else will be. Once Asriel has turned his back on him, Byakuran adjusts his position and takes a deep breath. He holds up the syringe to his face, the glowing rainbow liquid inside shaking through the tremors in his hand. He doesn't like this, but it's the only way.

" _ **Gaster… Would you mind helping me this time instead of using it against me? I can't get you inside his soul with how cracked my core is.**_ " Byakuran says to thin air, pointing the needle of the syringe towards his chest. This substance includes magic to keep it in a liquid state. But at least he is able to separate magic and Dying will flame, so no magic gets into his core. After a few moments of waiting in silence, Byakuran finally gets his answer.

… _**Alright. I will remove the excess magic from your body. If you hadn't done this previously, I would have told you to stop this madness.**_

Byakuran laughs slightly, making the needle pierce his skin without as much as a flinch. So now that Byakuran is willing to help him, Gaster cares about his safety. Well, Byakuran would do the same but that is beside the point. Maybe he and Gaster are more alike than he would like to admit.

" _ **True, I would call myself crazy too. But…**_ " Byakuran slowly inserts the liquid inside his body, his body temperature immediately increasing as Byakuran absorbs the flames. " _ **If I weren't so good at controlling my flames, I wouldn't have seen this as an option either.**_ "

He can immediately feel the change from last time he did this, instead of the magic within the liquid trying to get into his core through the flames, the magic is separated and moving towards his skin. It is a lot easier to separate the flames and magic with Gasters help so Byakuran can focus more on converting the different flames into sky flames than actually separating them.

 _ **Then it's good I know so much about magic, being a part of it can be useful in this situation.**_

Byakuran agrees silently, closing his eyes in focus so he won't make any mistakes. He throws away the empty syringe, making a loud clanking noise echo across the long corridor. Soon after the syringe is empty, Byakuran can hear voices approach the corridor he's sitting in. The new flames he has acquired are a huge help in mending together the cracks in his core, but there are still a few small ones left. Although, those will need to stay that way, Byakuran will use the rest of his flames to make sure Gaster enters Asriels soul. It might be a long process. Byakuran opens his eyes slightly when he hears his… Friends entering this Judgment hall. Can they really be called his friends? Byakuran can feel the excitement coming from the magic around him. Gaster must be absolutely thrilled at the thought of getting a body again.

Byakuran glances in the direction of the voices, seeing a distressed Asriel with everyone else in tow behind him. Including Toriel. The magic that Gaster is pushing out from his body is swirling around his limbs in a mix of yellow, purple and green. Must be one worrying sight for the monsters to see.

" _ **Make sure to do exactly as I say, Gaster. Or else, you might destroy his core.**_ "

Gaster agrees silently to Byakurans whisper and the human puts on a cheerful smile for all monsters approaching him. His voice will be able to reach them with how much this corridor echoes.

"I thought I told you to only bring one parent, Asriel-kun. I didn't expect such a huge party to join us. I would have brought my marshmallows."

Asriel is not at all pleased at his playful tone and he shows it by lightly hitting Byakuran over the head once he has gotten close enough. The prince is already crying, but it's not out of fear for himself. But fear for Byakuran. This makes the human smile softer at him even after he was hit.

"Stop pretending you're okay! You're not! We're all really worried about you."

Byakuran chuckles lightly, glancing up at the older monsters who have now reached him as well. All of them do seem worried, Alphys nervously staring at the magic evaporating from his body.

"Maybe you are worried, but this won't kill me that easily." That's a huge lie, he was at the brink of death just a few seconds ago. "Now, I will ask everyone but Asgore to leave. You could exit the barrier and look around, the surface is really beautiful."

"Like hell we can do that when you're like this!" Undyne screams out, clenching her fists tightly and glaring down at the human. Byakuran just smirks, closing his eyes. Now that Undyne has voiced her opinion, Papyrus will voice his after and then Alphys and the family of goats. They'll try to convince him to make them stay, that they will be here to support him and Asriel. That he should tell them exactly what's happening to him. It wouldn't be good for them to know.

"THAT'S RIGHT! I CANNOT LEAVE ONE OF MY FRIENDS WHEN HE IS IN THIS STATE! WE SHALL REMAIN HERE SO ALL OF US CAN GO TO THE SURFACE TOGETHER!"

That's Papyrus.

"Y-You're right. B-Besides, I-... I'm worried about t-that magic around you. I-I have to stay to make s-sure nothing goes wrong."

That's Alphys. Now, Toriel will speak up her opinion while treating Byakuran like a fragile child.

"no, your majesty. he won't change his mind."

Byakuran opens his eyes and look up at Sans, his pupils are gone again. The human can't help but let out a small chuckle. Once again, Sans is the unpredictable one. But from Toriels expression, Byakuran was at least right that the goat monster would try and convince him with her motherly ways.

"Sometimes, I wonder who knows the other best Sans-kun. You or me."

Sans shrugs lightly, closing his eyes with his posture slouching a little more when everyone's attention turns towards the skeleton. Well, almost everyone with Frisk trying to stay awake and Asriel shaking their shoulders gently. But Byakuran is thankful that Sans managed to quiet down the protest with just two sentences.

"it all depends on the situation I guess. but what have you planned this time? is it some kind of secret?"

"No, nothing like that." Byakuran says quickly, holding up a hand when everyone are now looking at him with curiosity in their eyes. "I simply believe that this would go best with as few people present as possible. You see, Asriel will be in a lot of pain while I-."

"What!?" Toriel interrupts angrily, her hands being set aflame with her magic. Asgore holds up his hands in front of his ex wife to try and calm her down, but Toriel shoves his hands away from her to continue glaring at Byakuran.

"Tori, calm down and let him-."

Toriel silences him with an angry glare, her eyes practically burning in anger. Seeing Toriel this angry immediately makes the king freeze up. Toriel haven't looked this angry since their argument right before she left for the ruins.

"Don't you 'Tori' me! He is going to hurt our child! How can you be fine with that?! He's going to hurt my Asriel for something _he_ thinks is necessary! And he won't even tell us what he will do!"

Asgore holds up his hands, a frown on his face. He isn't fine with Byakuran hurting his child either, but from what he has learned, this 'angel' would never do anything without a good reason. Byakuran has so far given the monsters hope and helped out in various parts of the kingdom. Simply listening to what he wishes to accomplish is something he can do as repayment. He can't take a decision before heading the whole story.

Asgore is just about to tell this when Byakuran interrupts. He feels that this will go nowhere if it keeps up, Asriel needs magic to get a complete soul before he transforms into a flower again.

"So you would rather have Asriel be a shell of your son, who will disappear in a few hours, than let him feel the pain necessary for me to create a soul for him? My, what a bad parent you are."

Hearing this, Toriels anger dies out as she stares at Byakuran with wide, confused eyes. She couldn't possibly have heard right. Bad parent? That may actually be true since she couldn't save any of her children from death. Give him a soul? But he's right there, her own little boy just like he was before death. Asriel has a good soul, right? He must have or he wouldn't be back.

"C-Create a soul?!" Alphys bursts out in shock, her claws shaking in nervousness. She remembers last time she tried to repair a monster soul, it became her biggest failure. And Byakuran thinks he can _create_ a soul? "T-That's impossible! To c-create a soul, a specific amount of m-magic has to be c-compressed w-within a s-shell which is the core of the soul! N-No one knows w-what this shell can possibly be made of a-and you don't have t-the necessary magic n-needed to-!"

"What-... Why is this...? W-Why is this here…?" Someone to the right asks and everyone turns their head in that direction. Asriel is holding something in his paw, staring at the object. The goat child is trembling slightly, his eyes wide in fear. He remembers this, the thing Alphys used on him to make him a flower. He still remembers how this rainbow liquid was injected in the flower to give him life. And right now, he's holding a syringe with drops of this liquid inside of it and the needle wet like it was just used. Byakuran couldn't have…

"WHAT IS THAT YOU HAVE, GOAT CHILD?" Asks Papyrus and gently plucks it from his hands. He also picks up Frisk and tuck her into one of his arms since it looked like they were about to fall asleep standing. Frisk adjust themselves and quickly fall asleep in the skeletons arm while he inspects the syringe. When he spots the rainbow liquid, Papyrus brightens up in wonder. He has never seen anything like this.

"WOWIE! THERE ARE SO MANY COLORS! THIS LOOKS LIKE THE 'RAINBOW' IN MY BOOKS! EXCEPT ITS FORM IS NOT A HALF CIRCLE."

"Rainbow…?" Alphys mumbles, her eyes widening as she stares between Byakuran and the almost empty syringe. Byakuran answers the silent question with a wink and Alphys's eyes widen even further in horror. That's why he is glowing softly like that, his body is adjusting to the injection.

Undyne takes the syringe from Papyrus and studies the liquid as well. She raises her eyebrows when no matter how she turns the holder, the liquid still holds onto its arrange of colors. This is science stuff, she has no idea what this can be. So she looks towards Alphys to try and get an answer from her but quickly stops herself from asking when she sees how much Alphys is trembling. She has walked away slightly from the group surrounding Byakuran too. With a worried frown, Undyne walks over and puts a hand on the scientists shoulder. Alphys jumps in surprise, head turning quickly towards Undyne with a slightly panicked look in her eyes.

"Hey, Alphys. Are you ok?"

Alphys quickly nods, looking down at the ground. But she then remembered her promise, that she shouldn't lie anymore, and shakes her head instead.

"No, I'm not… That liquid… It's dangerous…" She whispers softly, hugging herself as she remembers what it did to all those monsters she wanted to save. Undyne squeezes her shoulder a little tighter as a sign of comfort before she looks around.

Toriel and Asgore are talking, Asgore seems to try and assure her of something but Undyne doesn't know what. It should be about their son since the queen seemed more upset about all of this than Asgore is. Sans is talking to Papyrus, the taller skeletons voice still enthusiastic and loud. It seems like they're talking about Frisks condition as they're sleeping in Papyrus arm. Asriel, the goat kid, is standing close to where Byakuran is sitting. And that guy is just sitting there, smiling like nothing is wrong while he's giving off that weird glow over his whole body. Didn't Asriel say Byakuran was about to die? Then how can he sit there with a smile on his face?

"Oh no…" Alphys mumbles, putting her claws on each side of her head in horror like she just came up with a horrifying thought. Undyne quickly looks back to the reptile and play close attention to what she's saying. It's almost like Alphys has forgotten Undyne is there with how she's mumbling.

"T-That's-. I-It has to be too much-. H-He's-. Oh no, what can I do? I-... I-I would just screw it up."

Noticing that Alphys is getting way too worked up for her own good, Undyne drops the syringe she's still holding and crouch down in front of Alphys, putting her hands on either side of her face. Once Alphys is focused on her, Undyne gives her a wide grin in hope to calm her down. Even if Undyne isn't a scientist person, she can connect the dots easily enough. But she has absolute confidence that Alphys will be able to do anything related to science if she puts in all her effort into it.

"Hey, calm down. There's nothing to be worried about. You're great at this science stuff, so you'll be able to do anything. He's just going to make that soul and then you can do a check up on him. You'll be able to fix it."

Alphys seems to calm down by Undyne's confidence, but she still looks really worried. "B-But I-. I don't k-know enough a-about human anatomy t-to help. O-Only h-humans could help him i-if my theory is right. T-That l-liquid is both d-determination and magic! I-If a human gets too much magic, I-... I have no i-idea what will happen! A-And I only have equipment for monsters, I've never examined a human before."

Undyne blinks slowly, all that science blabber going through one ear and out the other. But Buakuran being a human? Somehow… That doesn't surprise her. It's like she's known about it even if she's never heard it before. It's weird. But she quickly gets back her grin since a blank face only makes Alphys more nervous than before.

"So let's call some humans then! I mean, even if those cool anime things aren't real, they're still cool right? Byakuran should have some friends who are nerds like you are so they can help."

Alphys seems to think about this, looking down at the floor with small beads of sweat on her forehead. They could call some humans to help, but after all Byakuran has said about humanity… Is it really good for them to call them for help? They are monsters.

While Alphys is thinking about this, Undyne has already let go of her shoulders and is walking towards Byakuran. Alphys calls out that she should wait, but why should she? It would be good to call them now so they can get here while Byakuran does whatever he will do. Undyne see it as a great idea to call those humans now. So she stops in front of Byakuran, putting her fists on her hips with a serious glint in her eye. But the human just keeps on smiling.

"Ok, I'll leave on one condition." She starts off, narrowing her eyes a little more. Byakuran gets the feeling that refusing isn't an option… "When I get up to the surface, I'm going to call your human friends to come and get you. No objections."

Byakuran blinks a few times, his smile growing smaller in surprise. He himself have thought of that option, but he never thought anyone would actually want to do that task since everyone were so worried about his and Asriels health. This makes everything a lot easier.

"No objections from me." He says, smiling again at the fish woman. He starts to push himself up to his feet, feeling strong enough to stand again now that the new flames have settled in his core and the magic inside him is lessening. "I was actually about to ask if anyone could do that for me"

Byakuran puts a hand in his inner pocket and pulls out his phone. A flip up phone, he has always preferred the old fashioned phones over touchscreens. He opens it up, unlocking a small feature that will allow anyone who knows him to track his phone easier. Now, he's glad Shoichi installed that sender. Byakuran hands the phone over to Undyne with a smile, feeling safe that she knows how to handle a phone.

"Call the contact named Irie Shoichi. Or Sho-chan as I like to call him. He will see where the call is coming from just as long as you explain the situation." A new thought accurate to him and Byakuran turn towards the skeleton brothers. Both of them are talking to Frisk and trying to keep her awake. All of this is taking a lot longer than he thought it would. "Papyrus-kun, Sans-kun, Frisk-chan. Could you three follow Undyne to the surface? It would make my friends feel better if they saw humanoid monsters once they arrive."

Papyrus immediately brightens up at the thought of meeting Byakurans friends and straightens up slightly. He also makes invisible wind flap his cape and Frisk giggles softly from where they are still lying in his arms.

"OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE THE BEST OF HOSTS! I WILL SHOW THEM ALL THE GREAT PLACES HERE IN UNDERGROUND!"

Sans looks up at papyrus in amusement, putting his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. This is Byakurans way of getting the most innocent ones out of this, which is a great thing, but also making sure that his human friends can get as good first impression on monsters as possible. Also, that Sans is sent with them together with Undyne, it means Papyrus and Frisk are protected if something goes wrong. It's a great plan in Sans opinion, which he won't argue against.

"I don't think they're here to see underground, bro. they're coming to pick him up."

"OH, RIGHT." Papyrus says, frowning slightly at the thought of Byakuran leaving. The 'angel' couldn't have been here for more than two months, but it feels like they've known each other for much longer. But Papyrus soon brightens up again, the thought of never getting to see Byakuran again being pushed away from his mind. The 'angel' will surely find some way to stay in contact with someone as cool as himself. "THEN THAT IS AN EVEN BETTER REASON TO GIVE THEM A WARM WELCOME. IF WE HAD THE TIME, I WOULD HAVE MADE THEM SOME 'WELCOME SPAGHETTI' TO EAT!"

Sans chuckles slightly and starts walking towards the throne room, glancing quickly at Byakuran before looking ahead again. "I'm sure they would have loved it, bro. but we're kinda on a tight schedule."

Papyrus and Undyne follow after Sans towards the surface, the younger skeleton loudly talking about how he will introduce himself to the new humans and how he'll show them his puzzles if they have the time. It seems like Papyrus has forgotten why they are on a tight schedule, but the remaining monsters sure hasn't. Alphys steps forward, claws shaking as she looks up at Byakuran. If her theory is right, if he really used the whole syringe, then he will...

"B-Byakuran, are y-you really going to…?" She trails off when Byakuran gives her a bright smile. A smile so full of confidence and calm that she herself calms down slightly. How can he show that kind of smile but with a sense of acceptance around him? An acceptance like he understand that he might die. Or does he even know how dangerous that determination liquid really is?

"It's ok Alphys-chan. Even if I do die, I'll do it to save someone, right? That's what Yuni-chan would have wanted me to do if she were down here with me." He pats Alphys lightly on the head before he approaches the two older goat monsters. Both of them have conflicted looks on their faces, but they seem to have come to a decision. Whatever that decision is, Byakuran will still use Asriels soul to host Gaster in. If he doesn't, Gaster will just try to crack open his soul again instead of pushing the access magic out of his body.

"Toriel-chan, Asgore-kun. Have you come to a decision now?"

The two of them turn towards Byakuran, Asgore with a slight smile and Toriel with a pained look. The king nods for both of them and answers, Toriel is too conflicted at the moment to tell their decision out loud.

"To have our son back, it would be a dream come true. Just seeing him is amazing and if what you say is true, that he will disappear from our lives if he does not gain a soul, then both Tori and I will do anything in our power to help you."

Byakuran claps his hands happily, a bright smile on his face that he doesn't have to force this on them. It will make everything so much easier.

"That's great! Now, Asriel needs to sit down and I will just take a look at your soul." He looks briefly back towards Asriel, the goat child giving him a quick nod before sitting down against the pillar like Byakuran did a few minutes ago. Without waiting for any consent, Byakuran puts a hand to Asgores chest to see how his soul is built while still talking to everyone in the room. Asgore tenses up for a few seconds when he feels the foreign energy around his soul but soon relaxes.

"During this, you others can decide for yourself what you will do, but the most important thing is that I shouldn't be disturbed. I would recommend for you to not enter the surface yet, my friends could react violently to seeing monsters of such different form than humans. Hairy monsters and dinosaurs are usually the ones humans use in horror stories after all." He finishes with a chuckle. Once he has gotten enough information about Asgore's soul, he pulls away his hand and look between the three adults. All of them look very nervous now, all for different reasons. Byakuran needs to be certain that no one will interrupt him while he's fusing Gaster and Asriel together.

"If you choose to remain here, I have to remind you to not disturb me. If you try to stop me when I've started, I might accidentally kill him. He will scream, he will be in pain and this whole hallway will make it seem louder." He looks pointedly at Toriel when he says this last part, knowing that she's the one who needs it the most. "No matter how much he screams, I cannot stop. If you stop me, you _will_ kill him."

Toriel looks down at the floor, her paws clenched tightly as she nods. Satisfied, Byakuran turns towards Asriel who's already trembling in fright. He isn't sure that he wants to do this anymore… The human crouches down in front of the child, releasing the restriction he has over his flames and making them easier to control. The protection around his core weakens as his wings emerge from his back with a bright light. The magic that was previously surrounding his body as it is pushed out is instead concentrated around his wings. The monsters stare in slight awe at the glowing angel wings, but Byakuran doesn't pay attention to any of that. His only attention is at the task he has set before him. He will get Gaster off his own back and fuse Asriels soul with Gasters magic. It will be a very delicate process.

The human puts his hands on either side of Asriel's face, making the child focus on him. This needs to be said now and not during the procedure. Or else, Asriel won't fully understand what he is supposed to do.

"Asriel-kun, I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm saying." Asriel nods slowly and gets a determined glint in his eyes. He will be able to do this! A smile twitches on Byakurans lips before he continues. "What I am going to do is drill a hole into your core. You will feel an enormous amount of pain, I can't help you with that, but i will do my best to make sure your body temperature doesn't rise. Once I have drilled a hole, I will guide the magic around us inside so it will fill your empty centre. That is how your soul can become whole. The most difficult part however, is that this magic has its own conscience." Byakurans eyes narrow when Asriel tenses up. The goat child is thinking about Chara, what they did to Frisk. "It's very, very important that you don't fight against it. This conscience won't do you any harm, but it will harm you if you fight this change. If you fight the conscience, you will fight off the second part of your soul. You will tear yourself apart. Work together, share your body, share your mind, become one person but still two different sides."

Asriel starts to cry, now feeling really worried about what is about to happen. He doesn't want to share his body, he wants to stay as Asriel. He just wants to stay with his parents. With a soft smile of his face, to try and calm him down, Byakuran wipes away the falling tears and ruffles the top of his head. If Asriel fights the change, Gaster will become enraged and attack Byakuran again. With magic still in his body and his core more exposed, cracking him open would become an easy feat.

"But you'll be able to do it. You're accepting at heart, and you'll still be part you. It's like when you absorbed the human soul, you both have control but still not."

Asriel calms down slightly, looking down at his own chest. Finding all of this very time consuming and kind of annoying, Byakuran puts a hand to Asriels chest and feels for his soul.

 _ **I have an idea…**_

Right after Gaster says that, Asriels soul slowly exits his body. An upside down empty heart, pulsing softly as it follows Byakurans hand. The human ignores the gasp from Toriel and immediately puts one hand around Asriel's soul while he positions one of his other hand's fingers in front of the heart. Asriel opens his mouth, to tell Byakuran to wait, that he isn't ready yet, but everything he can do once Byakurans burning finger touches his soul is to scream. Remembering how his parents are there, he quickly closes his mouth, biting his lip to stay strong for them while he's crying. But he can't hold on for very long, because he soon starts to whimper loudly as Byakuran drills further into his core. It feels like something is splitting him apart.

Byakuran is frowning as he continues to drill into Asriels soul, the magic around them moving in excitement. He can feel the strain on his core, how extremely fragile it is from breaking as he's putting all his concentration into keeping Asriels soul intact while still making a hole large enough for Gaster to enter through. If he didn't need his wings for further concentration, his core might not be as exposed as it is now. Apparently, Gaster notices when a small crack on Byakurans core grows and he starts to get worried. Byakuran is his ticket to being alive again, that won't happen if he dies while trying.

 _ **Byakuran, your core is cracking again. You need to slow down.**_

But Byakuran does the exact opposite, picking up his speed of the fire drill and making Asriel whimper louder. He completely ignores everything at that point, but he can't ignore Gaster. Gaster is literally speaking inside his mind.

 _ **If you continue like this, your soul will shatter before you even manage to make a hole! Your crack is growing!**_

" _ **Then you do something about it… I'm busy…**_ " Byakuran mutters back, almost flinching when he accidentally makes the drill too jagged and makes a small crack in Asriels soul. He quickly heals it with sun flames before he continues.

Gaster, not really knowing how he can help in his current state, wraps his magic around Byakurans core in hope that it will slow down the strain. That's when he notices the connection from the core to his wings. Maybe…

All of a sudden, Byakuran feels the protection around his core increase and the strain becomes a lot less. The control over his flames gets just a little bit worse, but it's just in time. Byakuran has managed to drill a small hole in Asriels soul using his flames, and now, Gaster can enter it. Releasing a slow breath, Byakuran slowly moves his flames to the side so Gaster can get in.

" _ **Remember, slowly. Fill up the center with 2 millimeter distance between your magic and the cores sky flame.**_ "

Following Byakuran's quiet instructions, Gaster enters the soul, gently pushing aside the little wall of dying will flames Asriel already has and gather in the middle. As the soul is slowly filled up, Asriel's gaze gets more distant. But once the soul is completely filled like it should be and Byakuran closes up the hole with his version of sun flames, Asriel blinks a few times as his gaze steadily comes back to reality. Feeling absolutely exhausted by giving so much concentration to one task, Byakuran falls back on his butt with a deep tired sigh.

"There…" He says, falling to the floor on his back too simply because he feels like it. His wings are still out and annoying him, but that's a small price for relaxing completely. "It's done..."

Immediately after that is said, a sob of relief fills the corridor and he can feel movement over him. It must be Toriel and Asgore, because he can hear their relieved and happy voices speaking to Asriel, how much they love him and how happy he's alright. Byakuran smiles at having done something for someone other than him or Yuni. It makes him feel… nice. A weak pulse of energy comes from his wings, the extra protection around his soul drawing back. So that extra protection... He should have known. Byakuran can hear a pair of clawed feet approach him while the happy family reunion is still taking place and Byakuran opens his eyes to look up at a smiling Alphys. She seems happy too, but also in awe. She's the one who believed it would be impossible for him to create a soul.

"Y-You actually did it? Y-You-... c-created a soul?"

Byakuran laughs slightly, his own smile lighting up his face. He feels really good to have done this for Asriel, done this for all of monster kind. He never knew helping people could make him feel better. This must be why Tsunayoshi helps everyone he can. It's… It's nice.

"Yeah, I did. You shouldn't expect anything less from me Alphys-chan."

Alphys laughs softly, wiping away a tear that he didn't notice before. Monsters are such strange creatures, they are way too nice and care about others too fast. He and Frisk are the perfect examples.

Byakuran is brought out of his thoughts when a weight falls on top of his chest, making him lose his breath momentarily as he reflexively curls up and holds his hands over his chest. Which makes Byakuran hug Asriel who is right now lying on top of his chest. The goat child has a huge smile on his face with tears streaming down his face. When their eyes meet, Byakuran can see one of Asriels eyes shift from brown to light purple. Asriel doesn't feel as radiant when his eye changed colour, but he smiles all the same.

"Hey, Byakuran!" Someone shouts from down the hall, interrupting anything Asriel was about to say. The four monsters and one human turn in the direction of the throne room, seeing Undyne stand by the opening and shouting towards them. When everyone are looking at her, Undyne points towards the barrier with an excited look on her face.

"You didn't say humans could fly! They're already here!"

This makes Byakuran confused, are everyone flying? But only Tsunayoshi and himself should be able to fly, maybe Enma with his gravitation flames. Have time jumped forward while he has been stuck inside this loop? Byakuran really hopes it haven't been too long and that the contacts he had in the mafia are still there. With Asriel still on his chest, the human sits up and uses his arms as support.

"They flew here? In what way?"

Undynes eyes start to sparkle slightly, holding up a fist in excitement. They must have made a very impressive entrance to get Undyne this pumped up.

"They had flames on their boots! It was so cool! You have to come and see this Alphys!" Undyne points again towards the barrier before she runs off, way too excited over the humans to even see if they are following her. Once Undyne has disappeared, Byakuran gently pushes Asriel off his chest and quickly rise to his feet. He stands up a little too fast and gets dizzy, but he doesn't care about that. If they are all using flame boots, then they might have jumped further into the future than he thought. What about Yuni? Is Yuni ok? Will she still care about him? He waves away Toriels outstretched hand with a frown. Without taking any consideration to his own health, Byakuran uses his wings and flies to the end of the hallway and then flies through the throne room and to the barrier. He doesn't stop flying until he is at the end of the cave, sunlight shining through and blinding him. He can hear voices talking outside, both Undyne and Papyrus talking energetically but Byakuran can't place exactly who they're talking to.

Now, he's getting nervous. If time really has jumped forward, then he's been gone a lot longer than he would have liked. Did they even miss him? Is Yuni there with them? And his team, how have they been while he was gone? Have they kept up with the information work he started? Did they manage to expand their little organisation into a familia again? Byakuran almost doesn't want to know how much time has passed by, he almost doesn't want to meet them again and see their reactions. But he can't help but admit that he has missed them, hearing their voices. Perhaps they're acting odd like they used to be.

Byakuran takes a deep breath, straightening his back and puts a small smile on his face before he steps out into the sunlight. He can immediately see them, all of his friends. Vongola, Gilo Nero, his team. Not only that, but the kids, the 14 year olds he once knew, now look like adults. About the same age that he is. It's… strange. But they still act the same. The Vongola with their silly antics are happily talking with Papyrus, Frisk and Undyne, Gilo Nero and his team are staring at Sans since they are the more serious bunch. Byakurans smile only grows wider when he sees them. They are still the same.

Sans is the one closest to the exit so Byakuran walks up to the skeleton. With a soft laugh, he puts a hand on Sans shoulder and looks down at the skeleton first. He relishes in the stunned silence that appears when his friends see him. This might get more fun than he thought.

"Hmm, you seem a little _rattled_ there, Sans-kun. Is everything alright?"

Sans grin widens and his previously tense posture relaxes. Now that Byakuran is here as evidence that they really do know him, the humans won't have any reason to attack a monster. Sans is just about to answer Byakuran on what's going on but someone interrupts.

"Byakuran!"

The human in question has just enough time to turn towards the voice and brace himself before Yuni throws her whole weight on him in a hug. Byakuran stumbles slightly, but quickly catches himself to hug the girl back. She is a lot older than when he last saw her. Well, the Yuni from that real timeline and not the Yuni from the future that is. Little Yuni was about the same age as Fran then, about 6 years old. Now, it looks like she's about 10. Maybe time haven't jumped forward as much as Byakuran thought. So Byakuran's smile widens into a grin as he adjusts his grip on her, spinning her around happily.

"Yuni-chan~! I've missed you! You've grown so much since I saw you!"

Byakuran blinks in surprise when he hears sniffles coming from the little girl and feels the shoulder on his vest getting wet. He looks confused at her before he looks over the rest of his friends. The majority of them have smirks and smiles on their faces, but the emotional ones, for example Bluebell and Ryohei, have tears in their eyes. He didn't even notice when Sans moved away from him together with Papyrus and Undyne and he clearly didn't notice when his friends walked closer to surround him.

Byakuran stumbles forward when Ryohei hits him in the back, he has gotten a lot stronger and the pat makes his back throb painfully.

" _We're so glad you're ok, Byakuran! To the extreme!_ "

Byakuran gives Ryohei an awkward smile, well if they want to talk Japanese then he won't stop them. It's been awhile since he spoke in another language than English. Next, Byakuran has to lean back when Gamma gets too close to his face for comfort with a very angry look on his face.

" _ **What were you thinking!? You've been gone for years and made the princess worried about you! What were you even doing in a mountain of all things!?**_ "

Byakuran briefly glances towards Sans, seeing how the skeletons pupils are gone before he turns back to Gamma. Byakuran opens his mouth to answer when someone else interrupts him.

" _ **That's right, that's right! You could at least have given a call,**_ _idiot Byakuran!_ " Bluebell says loudly, stepping forward to hit him in his side a few times before hugging him similarly like Yuni is doing, tears and all. Now, Byakuran is starting to regret his choice on meeting them. He really doesn't know what to do to calm down the crying girls. So he does the only thing he knows he can do, petting Bluebells hair.

" _ **I was-**_ " Byakuran starts off, but he's once again interrupted. This voice has a certain authority over it, and authority he never thought he would hear holding such confidence without the person being in their Hyper Dying Will mode.

" _ **Alright, that's enough. Give him some space. Byakuran can tell us all about it once we're settled but right now, he needs rest.**_ " Gokudera is practically glowing as he nods and steps aside, everyone else doing the same. But Yuni and Bluebell doesn't let go of him as he turns towards Tsunayoshi. The new Vongola boss who seems to be a successful one judging from the others reactions. Tsunayoshi has a soft smile on his face as he steps up to Byakuran. It must have been a long time if Tsunayoshi not only managed to speak english before with Papyrus, but also perfect Italian. Reborn has done a great job.

Tsunayoshi extends a hand towards Byakuran, his smile growing into a grin.

" _ **It's great to see you again, Byakuran.**_ "

Byakuran sets Yuni down on the floor, patting Bluebells hair before stepping up to Tsunayoshi in return. With an equally bright smile on his face, Byakuran clasps his hand with Tsunayoshi's, giving it a firm shake like he remember he did as a mafia boss in the future.

" _ **I can say the same, Tsunayoshi-kun. It's great to be home.**_ "

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Aaand it's done folks! The official Underground plot is hereby finished! I still have loads of inspiration of scenes and stuff, so I'll most likely post an epilogue and some scenes after that. It was a lot of fun to write this fic and a new experience with the Third POV. I'm still trying to draw pictures, but inspiration isn't coming as easy as writing... But I'll do my best!

Sadly, I couldn't fit in that much interaction between the main KHR cast and Undertale characters, but I'll try to add more of that in the epilogue. There's still a lot of stuff I haven't explained, but that are all planned out. I love how Layered I made this fic. ^^

The epilogue isn't done yet, but I'll post it here once it is. Thank you for reading! See ya soon~!


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